Raven Blouse and the Heroes of Olympus
by Maisie-Ackerman
Summary: Raven knew it was stupid, she was 15 now and needed to get a grip, but somehow she found herself staring out the window, lost in her fantasy. Raven spent her entire life being told she was insignificant and yet she still dreamt of a life in which she was important and made a difference. A life in which she was the main character of the story for once... Stupid, right?
1. Raven

_**Hey! Hey you! Yeah, you there about to skip this overly long author's note! Yeah, I got you man, I skip it most of the time too, so with you guys in mind, I wrote down the basic gist of the note says in this short italicized part here: Don't be a butt, review, PM me if you need anything, and please check out this story's tumblr at **_**_ravenblouseandtheolympians_**_**{dot}**_**_tumblr_**_**{dot}**_**_com_**_**{slash} **__**for more info read below, but you're probably going to skip it. You skipper, you.**_

**Author's note: Hi I'm Piper-Audrey, Author of this fanfiction. Just a disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson or any of the characters except my own like Raven and Carson and Gracie and Cameron and so on and so forth (I'll probably put out a list of all the characters that are my own original characters at some point). Anyway if you like this please, please, please, review even if it's just to say to update soon or whatever, it's just that reviews let me know you guys enjoyed the story and encourage me to write, so review. Also I didn't think I had to say this but apparently I do: helpful.** **I literally cannot put enough emphasis on that. I don't care if you don't like the story, if you hate my writing than I really don't give a flying feather about your opinion. Just everyone a favor and just click to another story because no one wants to hear you complain about what you didn't like about my fanfiction, and if you think they do you are sorely mistaken. For those of you who do like my story though, review! And feel free to tell me if my spelling is off, or my grammar, or if there are plot-holes or details of the story that I missed! That's completely fine, as long as you're respectful towards me, I'll be respectful towards you! That way we can all get along and be friends, which is great because I'm really excited to get to know you all!**

**Speaking of reviews, if you have any questions please PM me! (I always respond first thing.) Asking questions in reviews is fine too, but just make sure you have read up to the latest update before asking because I might have already answered it in the story later on. That way I'm not answering the same question twenty times instead of writing, and I don't give away what could be a cool surprise in a later chapter, and you just don't realize it yet! Also sometimes I'll get questions from people who don't have an open inbox or are just guest on , If that's the case then just go ahead and check the latest updates to see if I gave you a shout out and answer questions in authors note, at the beginning or the end of chapter.**

**On the subject of private messaging, I just want to let you all know that I'm pretty Approachable, so feel free to PM me. Anything you want from me (even if you think its dumb) just shoot me a PM and I'll give you a lengthy reply as to what it is you're messaging me about. And really, PM me with anything, suggestions on what should happen in my fanfiction, headcannons you'd like me to incorporate into the story, some theory about this AU, or some theories you have about Raven that you'd like me to hear, who knows I might use them (and of course I'll give you credit in the story.) Whatever you want Just PM me and I'll get back to you. The more feedback I get from my fan, the better. I promise I don't bite!**

**Also if there is anything else you want to know another source of information for this story is it's tumblr here: ravenblouseandtheolympians**_**{dot}**_**tumblr**_**{dot}**_**com**_**{slash} **_**Sorry I have to type it like that, but the site won't allow you to post links so I have to write it like that. All you have to do is replace the {dot}s with an actual period and the {Slash} with an actual slash ( / ) But please check it out because I post tons of stuff there, artwork, videos, music, headcannons, announcements, sneak peeks, and shout outs to some of my amazing fans. There's a whole page of pictures of what I think the cannon PJO characters look like, and another page listing all my OCs along with pictures of what they look like, so for all my visual people, that's probably a cool place for you to check out. I also realize you can't copy and paste the link, but if you click on my name (Piper-Audrey Freeman) above I also have the link in my profile and you can copy and paste it there.**

**And with that please enjoy the story.**

**With Love, Piper-Audrey**

Raven Blouse was never popular at her school. She didn't have many interests besides reading. She was a bit of a nerd and her best friends were the fictional characters created by her favorite author Rick Riordan. She was over active and over imaginative. She would have spent her whole life wishing to be part of that book if she hadn't decided to walk home on sunny day instead of take the bus.

Raven was imaginative but she'd never actually believed in Magic. Not in her Universe. The world of Percy Jackson was a thousand miles away. Out of her reach. She was thinking about that on Monday afternoon as she finished reading The Mark of Athena. She heaved a sigh. She was so done with this book. Okay that was a lie because she was never done with this book series but the point was still there. Her OTP was falling into Tartarus and she couldn't even cry about it because she was in the middle of 6th period. The best thing she could do to cope with the grieving was to go to the library after school and grab a copy of The House of Hades to see what was going to happen.

The bell rang and she and the other students hurried out of the room. Raven shoved her Book into her Canvas Bag that she had gotten from SAIC with their logo printed on the front. It was given to her the time she went with her sister to check out the school. That was a year ago and now she was going there. All the way in Chicago and Raven was stuck there in New England. She wished she could go on an adventure like Percy and his friends and see cool places like Chicago.

The whole school rushed around in the halls. Raven made her way to her 7th period class and tried to stay out of everyone's way. She squeezed into her study and reread The Titan's Curse (her favorite in the series) for the remainder of the school day. When the bell rang she texted her mom to let her know she'd be heading to the library after school instead of heading home on the bus.

Luckily for Raven the day was nice. It was late spring and the school year was almost over. Next year she'd be a sophomore. She didn't like high school all that much. She still felt like a kid. She didn't feel 15. She didn't feel a lot of ways. She walked along the streets and felt the cool air prick her skin. Her black hair was plated in twin braids over her shoulders, her bangs pinned back off her face.

She was so lost in thought she almost missed what was probably the biggest event that would ever take place in her life. It wasn't so much an event as it was a person. The person was a panhandler. Usually she avoided these types of people. They made her sad. But this one was different from the others. She was a beautiful woman in a long white dress and jewelry. She was holding a sign that simply said 'Hungry'. People scorned her and didn't take the beautiful woman seriously. She looked so sad that it nearly broke Raven's heart.

Raven bit her lip and walked over. She pulled her lunch bag out of her canvas bag and held it out to the woman. She hardly ever ate so she didn't need the lunch. The woman's eyes shone under the vial. She took the bag and gave raven a thankful smile.

"Such a kind girl," She mused, and Raven blushed, "I must give you something in return."

"Oh, no," Raven said, "You don't have to."

"No! I must! Take this." She took Raven's hand and pressed a golden coin into her hand.

"A coin?" Raven said curiously.

"Write down what you want most in the world on a piece of paper and be specific. Place a glass of water on top of the paper and put the coin in the water."

Raven recoiled. This woman was nuts but she just smiled politely and muttered a thanks before rushing off. She pocketed the coin. It was probably just an old novelty coin or whatever they were called. Her dad would want to see it though. He studied things like this. Old coins, buttons and documents. That kind of thing.

She decided to skip the library and walked home. When she got home she wasn't surprised to see her sister, Kelly, in the living room drawing in her sketchbook since collage was already out for her. Her brother was playing on his Xbox and yelling at his teammates. Nerd. Their parents weren't home yet but she could assume they'd be home shortly. She switched on the TV and turned on Bones and sat next to her sister.

"Hey there," Kelly said lazily, shading in an almost too realistic cat in her book with a black pencil. "How was school?"

"Fine I guess," Raven said shrugging. Kelly was probably Raven's best friend. She was about the best sister a girl could hope for, but part of what Raven didn't like about Kelly was that she was too good. Raven wasn't smart or talented like her sister and it was almost like her short comings were being rubbed in her face.

"Cool," Kelly said, "Mom said she might be home late and told me to tell you to get your homework done."

Raven sighed. That was the last thing she wanted to do at the moment but she shouldered her bag and trudged upstairs. She sat down on her bed and pulled out her books and paper and a purple mechanically pencil. She had algebra to do so she opened to the page. After about two minutes of homework she got bored. Then something fell out of her pocket and caught her attention. It was the coin the beggar woman had given her. It was small and perfectly round with some weird writing on it.

She doubted it had magic powers but she pulled out a piece of paper anyway and began to write out her wish carefully and neatly on the paper and every detail about it. When she was done she read it out loud to herself, quietly. Her voice barely above a whisper.

"I wish the Percy Jackson story was real. I wish I was part of it from the very beginning. I want to be twelve again and fight monsters with Percy and Annabeth as the daughter of Nemesis."

It sounded really dumb when she said it out loud. God she was such a nerd. But she was just humoring some woman. What harm could it do? Besides if should could have anything this was it. It was starting to get late so she put her books away and heard her mom and dad getting home.

She'd asked her dad about the coin but he had no idea where or when it was from so Raven just shrugged it off. She might as well go to be. She read more of The Titan's Curse before bed by the light of a flashlight. She looked at the clock. 11:55. she snuck out of bed and filled a green plastic cup with water and pulled out her wish. She placed it on her bedside table and placed the cup of water on top of it as her woman had said. She waited…just a little longer.

At exactly 12:00 she dropped the coin in the water.

She closed her eyes tight. She waited a second. Then two, until she'd waited a full minute. Nothing happened. She frowned almost disappointed. But what had she expected really. She was too old to believe in magic. Her wish was silly anyway. She rolled over and yawned. She was tired so she closed her eyes and fell asleep.


	2. Raven 2

Raven had never slept so soundly. The trouble was waking up. When she woke up she was laying in the dumpster behind an old building. She opened her eyes and she was snuggled between the dumpster and a brick wall. Her eyes widened as she looked around. What was happening? She looked down and she was wearing a white tank top and blue hooded sweat shirt with the sleeves. She wore denim shorts and black sneakers. Her socks reached up to her thighs. Gold necklaces felt cold around her neck and gold earring hung from her ears. She looked like one of those popular girls from her school. Her canvas bag had been replaced by moss green backpack with brown leather trim.

She looked around. She got up and her legs felt frail. A piece of paper fluttered to the ground. She picked it up. It was the piece of paper with her wish written on it. Under her wish in neat golden letters was the words "Wish Granted". Raven's eyes widened. This had to be a joke. She walked out of the alleyway and right across the street she saw a gate that said Yancy Academy. She had no idea what was going on. She looked around shaking.

She rushed down the streets to find a bathroom. She walked into the McDonald bathroom and looked in the mirror. There she was twelve years old again. Her hair was cut in the same short curls it had been back then and she did look considerably younger. It was all so unreal. She looked away from the mirror. If she looked at twelve year old her anymore she was going to pass out.

Raven locked herself in her a bathroom stall. She had to get what was going on. She knew it was impossible for her to be twelve again. It was impossible for her to end up in the dumpster outside. It was especially impossible for there to be a yancy academy since it didn't exist. She'd checked. Had her wish come true…? She was starting to think maybe that crazy lady wasn't so crazy after all.

If that was true she was inside her favorite book. She was at the beginning of The Lightning Thief. She wasn't so sure she was happy about that. She'd always wanted to be a Demigod and if her wish really had come true that meant that she was now the daughter of Nemesis. She wasn't really sure why she had chosen Nemesis out of all the gods; she'd just always liked balance. Good things came at a price it was how the world worked. That didn't mean good things couldn't happen but you had to balance them out so things didn't turn into a disaster.

She pulled her bag off her shoulder. It was heavy. All she expected to find inside was her school stuff. Instead she found an arsenal in her bag. When she pulled it out it was a dagger. Easy to conceal, light weight, it fit perfectly in her palm. She was a little disappointed it was just a dagger. She understood that daggers were a true warrior's weapon, since you had to be close to strict (as explained by Luke to Annabeth back when they were on the run together) but still, she thought swords and bows and arrows and hammers and spears were all a lot cooler.

She was thinking about who she'd rather have a sword when the blade in her hand grew in size. She was now holding a full blown sword in her hand. She gasped. A hammer? The weapon changed to fit her needs. Her eyes widened. This was amazing. She asked the blade to turn back into a dagger and stuck it back in the bag. She pulled out a leather bound book next. She looked through it and she grinned. It was a book of prophecies. Everyone from the Percy Jackson series and then some was written down in need writing. Some of them made no sense to her but some were clearly roman and talked about the roman gods. She also had copies of each one of the Percy Jackson books in her bag.

She also pulled out blue chocker out of the bag, incrusted with sea shells, she didn't know what it did but it went with her outfit so she put it on. She put the books back in her bag. If she really was in the Olympian world she would need all this stuff. From what she knew Nemesis kids didn't really have powers. She leaned against the wall behind her.

She had gotten her wish but now what? She was a pretty useless demigod; all she had was a book and a weapon that changed forms. What was she supposed to do? Then it hit her. She had way more than a weapon and a book. She had knowledge. She knew exactly what happened to the demigods and when it would happen. She could help. But how?

Raven thought up her plan in a matter of minutes. She would use her knowledge to help the demigods; she would stop bad things she knew would happen. Like the death of Bianca di Angelo. And she could save Luke. She would just have to be careful with the way she did things. She would have to harness her calling as a child of Nemesis. She'd have to balance things out. If she saved Luke for Annabeth she'd have to let someone less important be taken by the titan lord to even things out. As long as things came out the same way she could fix things. After all the demigods in her book didn't deserve to suffer the way they do.

First order of business: Find Percy. He was so scared in the first book if she could reassure him things would be alright maybe he'd have more courage in the tasks he accomplished. She shouldered her bag and walked out of the bathroom. She took one last look at herself in the mirror. She reassured herself she'd be 15 again soon enough. Not that she particularly wanted to be 15 again. She liked being 12.

She walked along the street in front of Yancy academy. It looked big and scary. Like an asylum. No wonder Percy had hated thins place, good thing she wouldn't be staying long. She turned the corner and saw a woman, tall and skinny with brown hair and a boy, obviously her son, with black hair and sea green eyes carrying a few bags towards the building. Raven sucked in air. This was it. Time to be the mysterious Raven, the girl with all the answers. She stepped forward.

"Percy Jackson?" Raven asked her voice level and calm. Good start.

"Um, yea," the boy answered. Percy was about an inch shorter than Raven and just a little scrawny. Raven assumed he'd gain muscle mass as the year went on but he didn't have any now.

"I'm Raven Blouse, the school sent me to greet you, welcome to Yancy!" she tried to sound official. It seemed to be working since neither Percy nor his mom sensed anything wrong. "If you want me to take your bags I can show your son to the dorms miss Jackson!"

Raven took the bags and her and Percy walked into yancy. She had no idea where she was going so she followed some other kids taking bags into the school. Percy walked along silently, "So sixth grade, huh."

"Yea" Percy grumbled. _Come on Raven_, Raven thought, _get it together remember the books. Percy hates yancy. Build on that. _

"Boarding school kind of sucks huh. All these rich kids with weird problems... You don't seem to belong in this kind of place."

Percy raised an eyebrow at her.

"Here's some advice, Percy. Read your Greek mythology textbook closely. It could really save your life." She tried to say save your life casually, like she meant it school wise, it could save his life. "You're going to like Ch- Er, . But watch out for ."

She didn't even have to look at the books for the names.

"Cool," Percy said.

"Look," Raven said, "You'll see in time boarding school is the least of your problems. But me and a lot more of your friends are going to be around to help you. I'm thinking we'll be seeing a whole lot of each other. So don't sweat it."

Percy gave Raven a small smile, "Thanks, I guess that's pretty cool."

Raven smiled in return. "Annabeth is a lucky girl." She said without thinking.

"Who?" Percy looked confused. Raven caught herself.

"You'll see." She said simply. "Anyway follow these kids to the dorms, I have some business to take care of, but I'll see you soon. Welcome to Yancy."

"Uh, yea thanks." Percy said as Raven ran off.

Raven beamed as she turned the corner. The mission was a success. She had just met The Percy Jackson! Her skin was still tingling. That kid was going to save the world and she was going to help him. She was starting to get behind this wish idea. But she wasn't done yet. She had more people to see. It was off to Camp Half Blood.

She was about to start off when she realized she had no idea where camp half blood was. That's when she realized she didn't need to know. There were people right in front of her who knew. She went into the school. It took some asking before she found the Latin classroom. When she got there she knocked before entering.

She entered and looked at the old Greek and Roman armor and writing on the board. And there he was, Chiron. The trainer of heroes. He didn't look like much but he was a centaur and a wise man. He'd trained Percy and Annabeth and countless other heroes. Now she was going to train her. Hopefully.

"Chiron?" She said without thinking. He turned and stared at her wide eyed. "I'm Raven I'm a half-blood." She explained quickly. She didn't need him thinking she was a monster and attacking him or anything.

"Yes…I can see that." He said nodding slowly. "What are you doing here, girl?"

His voice was calm and soothing. Like you could hear the years he'd lived in his voice, but it was still strong. Raven could feel herself unclench and loosen up. She was safe here.

"I need to make it to camp half blood," She explained, "There is a camper who needs my help."

An hour later Raven was on the camp half blood bus back to camp half blood. The first thing she needed to do was talk to Luke. She knew she could convince him to change if she got to him now before he did anything stupid. She had to try for Annabeth. She was going to loss Thalia to the hunters and she deserved to have Luke there for her. Kronus would take refuge in someone else she was sure.

She'd refused to tell Chiron anything about Luke. All she'd said is someone needed her help and it was urgent. She couldn't sell Luke out though. If she couldn't save Luke she'd have to let things run its course. But if she could share with him the future then she could convince him not to side with Kronus.

Every bump in the road made her stomach do summersaults. She was actually heading to Camp Half Blood. Where they train heroes and learn survival and fight monsters. She had to pinch herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming. But still a part of her was sad. What had happened to her sister and brother and dad? Her mother was Nemesis now so did her real mom not exist anymore? That would have been fine with her if it weren't for Kelly. She'd never been close with her family. Her mom and dad were always arguing and didn't pay much attention to her and she hated her brother. Not even the sibling kind of hate. He had done too many things for her to consider him family.

But Kelly had always been Raven's best friend. She was kind and smart and just a natural leader. She'd always loved Raven and accepted her. Now what had happened to her? She had no idea. If she was gone Raven didn't know what she would do. But she was fine with not knowing for now. She could assume her family was fine. She had probably just been plucked from her family and become a half blood.

Finally Argus parked the van. There was giant hill and a pine at the top. Raven could only blink at it. Argus got out as well. He looked like a normal guy except for the eyes all over his body. She was just a little freaked out by that. He looked at her with all his eyes as if to ask: _Why are you just standing there? _She pointed at the tree.

"Thalia's tree?" She guessed. Argus just nodded.

We walked up the hill together. When we got to the top I looked over the Valley. There was a rock wall with lava flowing over the side and a strawberry field and a large wood. In the distance was the sight of long island sound. The cabins were off the side, one for each, she was disappointed to remember her mother didn't have a cabin. She would not get one until the end of the Last Olympian.

The sight was beautiful. She could see the big house at the bottom of the hill, and the air smelled like strawberries. The air was warm and a slight breeze blow back her jet black curls. She could feel it in her gut. This was her home. She grinned as Argus lead her down the hill to the big house.


	3. Raven 3

Raven climbed the steps of the big house. Argus stood beside the door and gestured for her to come inside. She was unsure but entered the big house. Inside the big house it was warm and well lit. The air smelled like strawberries and she took a step or two inside. She looked around to find it empty.

"Hello?" She asked. To her surprise there was a groan from the other room. She poked her head in. Sitting in a chair in the other room was a small pot bellied man with a reddish nose and curly black hair. He was wearing a tiger striped Hawaiian shirt and immediately Raven knew this was Mr.D or Dionysus the wine god. Not exactly her favorite god in the series but it was important to get on this guys good side. Behind her stood a girl cleaning up coke cans around the room with curly blonde hair but she didn't have much time to pay attention cause he quickly bowed when Mr.D looked over at her.

"L-lord Dionysus!" She said awkwardly, looking up from her bow. "My name is Raven Blouse, Daughter of Nemesis. It's an honor!"

She introduced herself quickly hoping this whole flatter trick worked. He seemed to buy it because he sort of smirked like he was pleased with himself. "Glad to see some people still respects the gods." He muttered. Raven dared take a few more steps into the room.

"I've just come to inform you of my arrival. I'm new here." She was nervous. She'd never talked to a god before. Last night she thought they didn't exist. Now…well anyway she had to keep it together, be cool. She smiled shyly; she didn't know what she was doing.

"You said you were daughter of Nemesis?" Mr.D said curiously.

"Yes, sir." She nodded.

"Weird, minor gods don't usually claim their kids." He said, "I guess you can just stay in the Hermes Cabin. Annie bell can you show her?" He waved his hand at the girl behind him.

"Annabeth," The girl corrected. Raven's heart nearly stopped. The girl was Annabeth Chase. She was Raven's hero. She was so wise and clever, and strong. Raven had to stop herself from completely flipping out. "Come on Raven."

Raven nodded and turned to Dionysus before following Annabeth outside calling, "Thank you my lord! Goodbye," She smiled. Maybe she was overplaying this whole flattery thing but Dionysus didn't seem to notice or if he did he didn't care. She followed Annabeth across the valley. She was glad she was staying in the Hermes cabin, she could talk to Luke.

"So you're the daughter of Nemesis?" Annabeth asked, "Goddess of Revenge."

"That's' right and you're the daughter of Athena" Raven said without thinking. Crap she had to get a handle on this. She couldn't let people know she knew everything.

"How did you know that?" Annabeth raised her eyebrow suspiciously.

"Just a hunch," Raven said quickly, "You give off that air of intelligence all Athena kids do."

'Oh," Annabeth beamed, "I guess I do."

"Yea, you must be super smart being daughter of Athena, huh?" Raven said, she really wanted to be Annabeth's friend if she could.

"I guess." Annabeth said, she gestured at the building we'd stopped in from of, "This is the Hermes cabin."

Raven looked in; even though it was the school year it was still crowded. She and Annabeth stepped inside. She set her bag down in the corner. Her head turning from side to side, kids wandered around not giving her a second thought. A few kids looked at her for a minute before going back to whatever they were doing. There were two kids who looked very similar who she assumed were the Stoll brother.

"Luke?" Annabeth called and a blond boy with a scar down the side of his face made his way to the front. He beamed at Annabeth and she seemed to blush. Raven had to keep from rolling her eyes. She could only picture Annabeth with Percy. End of story.

"Hey Annabeth," He said before turning to Raven, "Who's your friend?"

"This is Raven," Annabeth explained, "She's a daughter of Nemesis. Find a place for her?"

"Sure leave it to me!" Luke smiled and Raven found it hard to believe this kid was going to betray all his friends to join Kronus. He seemed so nice. And that's how it would stay if she could help it. Annabeth turned and disappeared. Raven watched her jog to the Athena cabin and disappear.

"So you can just put your stuff here," He gestured to the bunk next to him, "It is the school year so we do have a few open bunks…"

"Luke," Raven said, He looked at her, "Let's talk."

Raven had grabbed her leather bond book and she and Luke walked until she was sure they were out of earshot over everyone. Luke looked confused, and a little on guard like he was ready to be attacked. They stopped next to Thalia's tree. Raven sat down among the tree's roots.

"Luke," She said looking up at the blond boy, "Can I ask you a question?"

"Uh, sure. Shot,"

"You came here with Annabeth and Thalia, didn't you?"

"Yea, how-"

"You consider them family don't you?" Raven looked him in the eyes. She was deathly serious. She only got one shot at this. "Wouldn't you give up your life for them?"

"Sure I would," Luke said. He seemed so sure of it, "Thalia saved me so many times and Annabeth is like my little sister."

"Good," Raven said, her black hair whipping around her face.

"Is that it?" Luke asked his face concerned. Raven could tell he didn't like being questioned like this. She just looked him in the eyes and shook her head and patted the patch of grass next to her. He frowned and sat down next to her. She was silent for a moment.

"Luke, I know who's been talking to you," Luke looked surprised, he reached to his belt for his sword but Raven put up a hand, "I'm not going to tell on you, or try and stop you Luke."

That seemed to surprise him even more.

"Luke you need to be smart. I know you're angry at your dad. You feel like you've been used by the gods, but the gods are not your family. Just because they are our parents doesn't mean they're family. Your family is here. Annabeth is your family. You promised her family," Raven said looking at Luke dead in the eyes, "She won't follow you. She won't betray the gods. And Kronus will take away your family."

"You don't know what you're talking about!" Luke argued, but Raven raised a hand to silent him.

"I do know what I'm talking about Luke," She said firmly, "Do you want to know what will happen if you follow on this path Luke? If you give into what the titan lord is telling you?"

"How could you possible know that?" Raven pulled out her book of prophecies.

"Apollo and I have an agreement," She lied, "I know what's going to happen. Luke is so blinded by his rage he raises an army of monsters, bathes in the river Styx and allows Kronus himself to possess him. You prey on Annabeth's love for you and force her to hold up the sky, you almost kill her on multiple accessions. Only when Annabeth is screaming at you that you're supposed to be family do you come to your senses and kill yourself to stop Kronus from rising. You die in her arms."

Luke looked at her like she was the insane one. "That's crazy!"

"It's what you end up doing if you follow Kronus' instructions." Raven growled, "I'm not going to stop you Luke. If this is the path you want to go on then I can't stop you. I just want to save you. For Annabeth."

With that Raven stood up. Luke caught her arm.

"I don't want to hurt Annabeth…" Luke said.

Raven smiled and helped the older boy up. Mission success she hoped. Time would tell. The only thing she wondered was who the other sap Kronus would take hold of was. But she'd find out in time. She wasn't sure if Luke would remember what she'd said but she hoped that knowing what would happen would help him.

They ended up back at the cabin. Raven emptied her bag and was surprised to find her glowing bronze dagger, which she'd decided to name Artemis after her favorite goddess, and Percy Jackson books weren't the only things in her bag. Now there was an orange Camp Half-Blood tee shirt and a night gown made of pure purple silk. Clothes. Cool. She was about to walk away when she noticed something else tumble from her bag. A Silver circlet with writing etched into it: Bringer of Hope. Immediately she knew it read: Bringer of Hope. She smiled a little to herself and slipped it onto her head.

Weeks turned into months as Raven spent her time training at Camp Half Blood. Luke had insisted on one on one swordplay lessons with Raven. She had been total trash before he took her under his wing. Now she was a natural. Luke and her often spared and practiced for hours, teaching her different sword techniques. Annabeth and Raven had ended up getting along naturally. They both shared a deep passion for reading and a passionate fear of spiders. Before long they were pretty much best friends.

Annabeth also taught Raven what she knew about fighting with daggers. Close range combat was harder to get a handle on but she got used to it after Annabeth taught her. The Apollo kids taught her how to use a bow and arrow after she discovered Artemis could become a bow. The arrow thing took a long time to figure out but she finally discovered all she had to do was pull back on the string and the arrow would appear. She certainly had one hell of a weapon. She thanked the god who gave it to her.

Silena from the Aphrodite cabin taught her to fly Pegasus. That was easy because Raven had already done horseback pre-wish, she guessed adding wings wasn't so different. She mastered that quickly. She liked Silena, and made a mental note to save her. Although she wondered if she needed to with Luke being saved who would force her to become a spy?

There were things Raven sucked at too of course, like blacksmithing. One time she almost burnt down the forge, the Hephaestus kids hadn't allowed her back in since. Also capture the flag. She was trash at it so mostly she did defense, no one seemed to mind though. And it was still fun even if she was bad at it. But even though she was bad at Capture the Flag, the Stolls Brothers had given her a clever idea as to how to get better. Something about her technically being her own one woman cabin and switching sides. It was complicated, and she was working the details out, but she had to admit, the idea was so clever only the Stolls Brothers could have come up with it.

During the winter her Annabeth Luke and the rest of the camp celebrated Christmas. Even if it wasn't a Greek thing everyone still exchanged gifts and stuff. Of course it was all homemade things or things from the camp gift shop but it was still fun. She got a homemade necklace from Luke and a blank journal from Annabeth. In exchange, Raven had given Annabeth a pair of owl earrings that had reminded her of her best friend when she'd seen at the camp shop a few days before. To Luke, she'd given him a jet black dagger, made completely of Obsidian. She figured that since Luke would never get receive his evil sword, Backbiter, from Kronus, the least she could do was give him some sort of special blade. Even if it didn't kill monsters it looked pretty wicked.

When they went on the field trip to Olympus for the winter solstice Raven kept one eye on Luke at all times. Luke was great but she still didn't trust he'd changed. Kronus' hold was strong. Luckily he tried nothing. Raven was next to him the whole time. Unfortunately she didn't see if anyone else snuck off to snatch the lightning bolt because of that.

Finally the day Percy was to arrive came. She didn't know for sure but she just got a feeling. Raven got up early that morning. She had had to move to the floor after the summer campers arrived, but she didn't mind. She changed out of her Purple night gown and into her normal shorts knee socks, tee and sweatshirt. The morning air was thick and heavy and clung to her. She stretched. She imagined the fight that was about to go down that day at half blood hill. How Annabeth was finally going to get her quest after so long. She knew all this because her prediction was right. Someone else had stolen the lightning bolt.

She had learned this from Annabeth who'd told only her and Luke. She was half relieved and half unsteady. She had no idea who had done it and in this world she wasn't used to not knowing. She was happy Percy would finally show up though, She made her way to the Athena cabin and poked her head in silently. Annabeth wasn't in her bunk. She must have gotten up early as well.

Raven made her way up to half blood hill. That's where Annabeth always went when she needed to think. Sure enough Annabeth sat next to Thalia's tree staring off into the distance. Raven almost felt bad disturbing her. When she was up there she looked like she must be having some kind of conversation with Thalia.

"She'll come back you know," Raven said and Annabeth jumped.

"Huh?" Annabeth looked confused which was always strange on Annabeth because she was almost never confused.

"Thalia," Raven knew it was dangerous to just throw around information on the future but Annabeth looked so sad whenever she looked at the tree. So did Luke. She wanted to reassure her things would be fine. That's what she was here to do.

"That's all I can say on the matter but you'll get to see the daughter of Zeus again," Raven smiled reassuringly. Annabeth looked unsure about whether to believe Raven or not but she nodded. "Something big is happening today."

"What?" Annabeth looked curious; her gray eyes were so intense.

"Someone very important to you will show up." Raven grinned a bit.

"Who? Who shows up that's important to me?" Annabeth pressed for Answers. Raven just smirked.

"He drools in his sleep."


	4. Raven 4

It didn't happen until late that night. Raven waited all day and most of the night to watch it happen, right next to Thalia. When it finally happened she knew because of the giant flash of lightning. There was a boom and a flash and she heard something flash. She watched the figure appear from the shadows and she watched as Percy, Grover, and Sally Jackson struggled from the car. She could have intervened but she stayed put. This moment didn't need any adjusting. Percy was about to prove himself as a demigod; as a hero.

Raven only watched as the Minotaur attacked the twelve year old boy and his mom. Raven frowned at the sight. She had expected this to be epic. Instead what she saw was a scared boy crying as he watched his mother dissolve into golden light. She felt so bad she felt like crying herself. She watched as he dragged Grover up the hill calling for his mom. She lost the will power to stay put. She met Percy halfway up the hill and throw Grover over her shoulder like a sack of flour and helped Percy up the hill. They made it to the big house where Percy clasped on the porch. She sat Grover down and knocked quickly on the door before running off. She only looked back momentarily to chance a glimpse of a half-conscious Percy staring in her direction. she smiled at him sympathetically.

Annabeth pressed Raven about the new camper. Did he have something to do with whatever happened at the winter solstice? what was stolen? What was going to happen? Annabeth knew more than almost anyone about what was going on but Chiron wouldn't tell her much. She'd learned just enough to tip Raven off that someone had stolen the lightning bolt but that was it. And Annabeth didn't like being in the dark.

Still raven wouldn't tell Annabeth anything. She'd know what she needed when she needed to know. So Annabeth turned to caring for Percy who was still passed out. trying to question him whenever he came to for a little but never getting far. Raven felt bad for Annabeth. She couldn't really imagine just not knowing like that. Raven knew everything.

It was a few days before Percy really came too. Raven saw him talking to Chiron and Mr.D on the porch at sat just out of sight to watch. She had her lightning thief book with her and was sort of reading along to what she knew was going on over there. She could have done that for a long while if Luke hadn't interrupted.

"What are you reading?" Luke asked and Raven hid the book quickly.

"Nothing," She said, "Just checking that out."

She gestured to Percy and Chiron on the porch. Luke looked where she was pointing. He frowned. Raven liked Luke. He was one of her best friends. Ever since she'd saved him they'd been connected somehow. It was nothing like he and Annabeth had. They had been together for so long, and they were pretty much like siblings, although she could tell Annabeth wanted more than that. Sometimes it made Raven a little jealous, only because she'd always wanted a big brother like Luke, since her big brother was a bust. But she had to remind herself she'd saved Luke so he and Annabeth could have something like that.

"You're not becoming obsessed with that guy too are you?" Luke sounded so unhappy at the prospect that Raven laughed.

"No," Raven giggled, "But he is important."

Raven tucked her book under her arm and leaned back against a tree. Luke looked at her for a second like he was trying to figure out what she was thinking. Poor guy was never going to guess what went on in Raven's head.

"You're planning something aren't you," He said, "You've got that look on your face. Annabeth does the same thing. You both knit your eyebrows and press your lips together like that."

Raven smiled. She remembered Percy saying something like that to Annabeth in The House of Hades. But she wasn't planning anything. She'd done all the planning already. she just needed to work on how she was going to go about everything. She needed to say the exact right thing at the right time and make sure she didn't mess anything up too bad. She did have a lot on her mind. What if Percy didn't like her? What if she couldn't save someone? What if she changed something and the whole book came undone?

"I'm not planning anything," She told Luke.

"Right," Luke sounded unconvinced, "So do you think this is the guy who's going to take Annabeth on her quest?"

"Maybe," Raven said.

"Aw come on," Luke said, "I know you know."

Luke and Annabeth and Raven's other friends had become used to her just knowing things. They didn't question her too much about it because Raven refused to give them any sort of hint. She didn't think they actually believed she had any connection to the prophecy god but they knew something was up.

"Yes," Raven said, "She gets her quest."

"Cool," Luke said but he didn't sound very enthusiastic about it. His fingers traced his scar gently. Raven frowned and put a hand on his. She gave him a small reassuring smile.

"Luke. You're part is so much bigger than you think. So much bigger than that."

To be honest Raven had no idea if that was true. Now that she had saved him from Kronus she didn't know what was going to happen to him but she hoped she was right. She could see Luke being a hero. She just sensed it in her gut. It didn't matter that he failed his quest, but she knew it still bothered him. A lot of things bothered him still and she wondered if he'd ever truly get over it. Her words seemed to reassure him.

"Anyway," Raven changed the subject, "we should get back to the cabin. We have an undetermined camper to greet."

Raven looked back to the porch but Percy was already gone, walking across the camp with Chiron on the same tour she'd been given a few months ago by one of the older campers while Chiron was at Yancy. Kids were staring at him and pointing. It wasn't every day a new camper shows up and kills the Minotaur. She'd been questioned a million times about it. She wasn't sure how it got out that she had watched it and helped Percy up the hill but it had.

Chiron stopped in front of Cabin Six where Annabeth was reading. Raven didn't stop to watch the rest because she jogged off with luke so they could greet Percy to cabin eleven. They got there just as Annabeth and Percy were walking towards the cabin. Raven took her place on the floor and stuffed her book into her bag. A while ago she'd found out her bag was magically too. It fit anything into it, and never got any heavier. You could put a Library inside and it wouldn't feel any heavier than if you put in a pair of socks. She seriously loved whoever gave her stuff to her.

Annabeth and Percy walked in, Annabeth's expression was hard. Raven gave a small smile. She called out "Percy Jackson meet cabin eleven."

"Regular or Undetermined?" Connor Stoll called over.

"Undetermined." Annabeth said back, Percy just looked confused when everyone groaned. Raven would have groaned too if she didn't know Percy wouldn't be staying long. The cabin was so crowded.

Luke stepped forward and calmed everyone down, smiling at Percy and welcoming him. He gave him the spot together next on the floor next to Raven. He put his stuff down looking nervous. Raven smiled knowingly at Percy, "Hello Percy Jackson."

He looked at Raven for a second, "Hey you're the girl from my first day at-"

"Come on I'll show you the Volleyball court," Annabeth said.

"But-" Annabeth grabbed Percy's wrist and dragged him out, Raven waved goodbye to Percy as he got dragged off by her best friend. Luke walked over and whistled. Raven stood up and walked to the door and watched Percy and Annabeth walk off. They looked good together even as kids. If you could call them that. They talked together for a while and Raven could tell Annabeth was having that conversation you had to have with all the new kids. Explaining things and convincing them they're a half blood. It wasn't long before Clarisse and some of her siblings walked over.

Annabeth and Clarisse exchanged words and before long Percy handed Annabeth his Minotaur horn like 'hold this while I take care of this little lady' and Clarisse had him in two seconds flat. Raven might have been concerned if she hadn't known what was going to happen. She just watched and giggled. She watched him get dragged to the bathroom, Annabeth followed concerned and Raven grabbed a towel from her bag and jogged over as well. They all stood in the girls bathroom. Annabeth watched through her fingered Raven leaned against the wall, waiting for the show and Clarisse and her friends were laughing. Percy's head was being pushed towards the water when Raven heard the pipes rumble. She grabbed Annabeth's wrist and pulled her out of the line of fire, grinning like a madman. When it was over Annabeth and Raven stood in the doorway. Percy as sitting in the only dry spot in the room. Annabeth looked awestruck. Raven just smirked, looking down at the son of Poseidon.

"How did you..." Annabeth stammered.

"I don't know," Percy stammered back.

"I do," Raven said before turning and walking off happily. She stopped to help Clarisse up from the mud and handed her the towel. Her hair was flattened to her head and she took the towel angrily and turned to curse Percy. "You're dead new boy." Good luck with that.

Raven watched as Clarisse was dragged off by her friends. She walked over to Annabeth and Percy. She grinned obviously amused by all this. "Welcome to Camp Half-Blood, Percy!" She said. Percy looked at Raven like 'you again!'

"You! You were there on my first day of school at Yancy! I never saw you again. You're a half blood?" Percy and Annabeth both stared at Raven

"Daughter of Nemesis," She said with a shrug, "I would have thought I would have been known for dragging your sorry butt up half blood hill though."

"Oh yea," Percy said searching his brain, "Thanks for that."

"No problem," Raven said casually, "Tell you what, why don't you join me and Annabeth's team for Capture the flag."

She looked at Annabeth for permission. She nodded in agreement. Raven patted Percy on the back and smiled, her black curls tied back in a high ponytail. She was happy Percy was here. This was when things started getting good. This is when her plan really went into action.

"Good job with the Ares kids Percy." She said and walked off to Cabin eleven.


	5. Percy 5

Author's note: Hey I'm sorry is this chapter sort of sucks. A lot of it is just rephrasing things that happened in the book since it's just Percy's point of view and Raven hasn't changed enough for the events to be drastically different yet. But still read it cause like impotent things happen. I own nothing so, thanks for reading, -Love, Piper.

Percy and Annabeth walked around camp and she showed him a few more things. Everyone had heard about the whole incident with the toilets. They all pointed and whispered and Percy was starting to feel like hiding again. He'd never liked being the center of attention. Finally they ended up at the canoeing lake.

"I have training to do." She said turning to walk away. Percy frowned.

"Hey Annabeth," He said, He felt like he had something to say but he didn't. For some reason he felt the need to apologize but for what. "Who was that girl?" He asked instead.

"Who Raven?" Annabeth raised an eyebrow, Percy nodded.

"Raven blouse, she showed up earlier this year. She's my best friend." Annabeth said shrugging.

"She's the daughter of Nemesis?" Percy asked,

"Yea,"

"But if her mom is Nemesis, then why is she in the Hermes cabin?" Percy asked, That didn't make sense to him, but a lot of things weren't making sense to him right at the moment. like how he had done that to the plumbing or how Greek Gods were real.

"Nemesis doesn't have her own cabin," Annabeth explained, "Raven is the first Daughter of Nemesis I've ever met."

Percy tilted his head. That didn't sound right. If Nemesis was a goddess too why didn't she have a cabin? He didn't know who Nemesis was but Raven seemed nicer than Clarisse and her jerk friends. She deserved a cabin more than them. But he didn't say anything.

"You need to speak to the oracle." Annabeth said changing the subject.

"Who?" Percy blinked.

"Not who. What. The oracle," Annabeth said as if Percy should know this, "I'll talk to Chiron."

Percy frowned and wished someone around here would give him a straight answer. He thought about going to find Raven. When he had blown up the pipes Raven had said she knew how he did it but walked off before he could say anything. He looked into the water and saw two teenage girls who waved to him. He waved back politely but Annabeth just scolded him. He groaned about wanting to go home.

"You are home Percy." she said, "Home for people like us."

"Mentally disturbed?"

"Not human." Annabeth corrected, "Half human."

"Half human and half what?"

"I think you know"

Percy frowned he had a feeling in his gut, he actually did know but he didn't want to be right. It was all too weird. "Half god." He said. Annabeth nodded, "But that's crazy."

Annabeth explained to him that 'no it wasn't a myth' and called him sexist for assuming her father was the olympian. After explaining a bunch of other stuff that didn't make any sense and what came now the conversation only got weirder.

"So ... I could just walk out of here right now if I wanted to?"

"It would be suicide, but you could, with Mr. D's or Chiron's permission. But they wouldn't give permission until the end of the summer session unless ..."

"Unless?"

"You were granted a quest. But that hardly ever happens. The last time ..."

Her voice trailed off. Percy could tell from her tone that the last time hadn't gone well. He wondered briefly what had happened but thought it better not to ask. Annabeth seemed rather touchy about a lot of things and he didn't want to risk pressing her.

"Back in the sick room," Percy said, "when you were feeding me that stuff-"

"Ambrosia."

"Yeah. You asked me something about the summer solstice."

Annabeth's shoulders tensed. "So you do know something?"

"Well... no. Back at my old school, I overheard Grover and Chiron talking about it. Grover mentioned the summer solstice. He said something like we didn't have much time, because of the deadline. What did that mean?"

Annabeth switched her weight from one foot to the other and clenched her fists like she was thinking hard. "I wish I knew. Chiron, the satyrs and Raven, they know, but they won't tell me."

Percy looked at Annabeth, "Raven knows?"

Annabeth nodded, "Raven knows a lot of things but she's very secretive about it all."

"How?" Percy asked. He looked at Annabeth, she seemed so frustrated. He almost felt bad for this scary girl. He couldn't imagine having a best friend keep something so important from him. Yet again Grover had neglected to tell him that he had goat legs.

"No one knows," Annabeth admitted, "She just knows what's going to happen and things like that. Whatever is going on she knows what it is."

"So like she knows the future?" Percy asked. He didn't know about Annabeth but that sounded pretty cool to him.

"Uh sure..." She looked back over the water, "Something is wrong in Olympus, something pretty major. Last time I was there, everything seemed so normal."

"You've been to Olympus?" He asked his eyes wide.

"Some of us year-rounders like Luke and Raven and I and a few others-we took a field trip during winter solstice. That's when the gods have their big annual council."

"But... how did you get there?"

"The Long Island Railroad, of course. You get off at Penn Station. Empire State Building, special elevator to the six hundredth floor." She looked at Percy with her eyebrow raised like she was sure he must have already known this. "You are a New Yorker, right?"

"Oh, sure." He had to stop himself from mentioning it was impossible for a building to have 600 floors.

"Right after we visited," Annabeth continued, "the weather got weird, as if the gods had started fighting. A couple of times since, I've overheard satyrs talking. The best I can figure out is that something important was stolen. And if it isn't returned by summer solstice, there's going to be trouble. When you came, I was hoping ... I mean- Athena can get along with just about anybody, except for Ares. And of course she's got the rivalry with Poseidon. But, I mean, aside from that, I thought we could work together. I thought you might know something."

Percy frowned shook my head. He wished he could help her, but he was too exhausted to do anything other than maybe eat. Or go question that Raven girl.

"I've got to get a quest," Annabeth muttered to herself. "I'm not too young. If they would just tell me the problem ..."

From what Percy could see Annabeth was kind of young to go out and fight monsters or whatever you do on quests but he was afraid the girl might judo flip him or something. She was only twelve. Percy was only twelve. What did she expect him to do?

Percy's stomach growled and Annabeth looked at him. She smirked.

"Go get something to eat, I'll catch up later."

Percy jogged off and went back to Cabin eleven. He noticed similar features in a few of the kids. The type of kids you would see pick pocketing or throwing spit balls, so Raven stuck out like a sore thumb. She had round nose, round face and a serious eyes. She had a sort of mysterious air about her that was so different than the mischievous ones that some of the other kids had. She sat on the floor next to the space percy was given, reading out of some leather bound book, with what looked like poems inside.

He was about to go over and talk to her when Luke cut in. He grinned and Handed him a sleeping bag and a bag. His scar still kind of freaked Percy out but he seemed nice enough.

"I got you a sleeping bag and stole you some toiletries from the camp store."

"Uh thanks,"

"Tough first day?" Luke asked. Percy would have stayed to talk longer but he really needed to talk to Raven. Of she knew the kind of stuff that Annabeth said she did, maybe she knew who his dad was.

"Eh I'm fine," He said and pushed past Luke, "Thanks again for the, uh, stuff"

"Uh no problem," Luke called after.

Percy sat down next to Raven and she looked up and smiled at him. Something about that smile was knowing and kind of creepy. Like maybe Percy's face gave her new idea of how to trick death.

"Percy!" She said happily. "What a pleasant surprise. Well not really we are cabin mates and I assumed you must be finished talking to Annabeth by now."

"Um," Was all Percy could think to say. Raven closed her book.

"Anything I can do for a new camper?"

"Yea," Percy said regaining his senses, "Annabeth says you know things."

Raven nodded.

"And you said you knew what happened in the bathrooms. what did you mean?"

"Oh!" Raven smiled sheepishly, "I didn't mean to say that, I just got excited. But I can't tell you. That would ruin everything."

"How?" Percy frowned. He didn't get how telling him know he made the pipes explode was going to wreck anything, "Why would that ruin everything?"

"Because it has to do with you dad and he hasn't claimed you yet and it's going to be a surprise! I can't tell you yet there is a system Percy." She waved her hands a little when she said surprise.

"You know who my dad is?" Percy asked staring at her. Raven nodded making her dark curls bounce.

"And you won't tell me?" Raven nodded again. Percy felt like breaking something. Preferably Raven's head. Now he got Annabeth's frustration.

"Calm down, Percy. You won't have to wait very long at all. A few days at most." Raven scolded. "Some kids have to wait years to be claimed if they get claimed at all. I don't see them complaining."

Percy frowned. Raven looked about his age, despite being an inch taller, but the way she talked she seemed much older. Like she was mature for her age, times twelve. He didn't press anymore although he was still annoyed with her.

"Percy," Raven gave him a sympathetic smile, "Listen I can't tell you who your dad is but I'll tell you this. You are going to be a great hero, and people are going to look up to you. Your journey will be hard and full of suffering. It will start with you getting claimed. So don't rush this."

"Gee thanks," Well that made Percy feel so much better.

"Don't worry Percy." She said, "That's why I'm here. To help you and make everything, you know, easier."

Percy could tell Raven was trying to be comforting but it wasn't exactly working. He put his stuff down and rolled out his sleeping bag and Raven went back to reading. But she kept an eye on Percy.

"So what did you and Annabeth talk about?" She asked.

Percy shrugged unhappily, "We talked about quests and said I might be the one, I don't know she said something about talking to the oracle."

"Ah," She said.

"What did she mean by the one?" He asked, he wondered if Raven would refuse to give him information again or if she'd give him a straight answer. Surprisingly enough she just shrugged.

"Annabeth wants a quest, She bugged Chiron so much he finally told her she wasn't destined to go on a quest until a special camper shows up." She explained, "She thinks it's you."

"Is it?" Percy asked. Raven grinned.

"Do you really wanna know? Or do you want to let things play out the way they're supposed to?"

Percy thought about that for a second.

"Ya know I think I'll just let things play out."

"Good boy" She said.

Dinner was fine. Percy sat with Hermes table where Raven and Luke sat together, chatting and laughing. It surprised Him a little the two were such good friends. Luke seemed so friendly and Raven was well Raven. Grover sat at table twelve with Mr.D and a bunch of other satyrs. Annabeth sat with her siblings. Percy was silent for the most part as Chiron made a small toast and Raven and Luke taught him how to use the cups and showed him to burn a portion of his food.

Raven tossed in a bread roll into the fire and bowed her head, "To Nemesis."

Luke explained the gods liked the smell of the burnt offerings. Percy thought it odd but tossed it in anyway. and wished for his father to reveal himself to him. He went back over and sat down and was about done eating when Chiron stomped his hoof and Mr.D made a small speech, although he didn't seem to enthusiastic about it. He announced Capture the Flag and everyone cheered. Percy didn't get the big deal.

Raven leaned over, "Capture the flag is kind of a big deal here. This upcoming game is very important. For you anyway."

"Personally," Mr. D continued, "I couldn't care less, but congratulations. Also, I should tell you that we have a new camper today. Peter Johnson."

Chiron murmured something.

"Er, Percy Jackson," Mr. D corrected. "That's right. Hurrah, and all that. Now run along to your silly campfire. Go on."

Raven giggled, "Classic Mr.D"

Percy wondered how Raven wasn't annoyed with the fat old god but she just seemed amused with his callous attitude more than anything.

Luke and Raven got up and lead Percy to the Amphitheater. The Apollo kids lead the sing-along. Raven ditched Percy and Luke to sit with Annabeth and her siblings. Percy raised an eyebrow. Everyone else was sitting with their cabin mates.

"Raven is daughter of Nemesis, so technically she isn't really part of Cabin eleven." Luke explained, "So she sits wherever she wants, so usually she sits with me during dinner and Annabeth during the campfire."

"She doesn't sit with anyone else?" Percy asked.

"Well, no not really. She doesn't have a lot of friends. She was keen on getting to know me and Annabeth but didn't really bother with anyone else."

Luke shrugged. "She's cool. Really mature for her age."

"Yea" Percy agreed, "I noticed."

Percy watched Annabeth and Raven singing across the amphitheater, smiling and having fun. Annabeth seemed totally different from before. She was loose and comfortable. She looked like a normal girl at summer camp having fun with her friends. But when she caught a glimpse of Percy her expression hardened again.

Percy had no idea how tired he was until his head hit the pillow. He passed out almost immediately. Today had been an odd and confusing day and he Percy was totally drained. That was his first day of camp. Great.


	6. Percy 6

Percy fell right into the routine of things around camp. He could feel the senior counselors and campers watching him. Especially Raven, who watching him carefully and didn't even try to hide it. He wasn't good at much so it was hard to tell who his dad was. Luke said he might be a Hermes child but Raven only shot that idea down. Luke scolded her but she just reassured them that Percy's father would be revealed in good time and it would all make sense. No use in guessing.

Percy liked camp enough though. He spend a lot of time with Cabin Eleven although sometimes Raven and Luke disappeared together for one on one sword lessons. They called them sword lessons but Percy could tell Luke just liked sparing with Raven since she could keep up. One time Raven let him watch, and they were both really good. Luke was strong and confident and Raven matched him in speed and cunning. Percy wondered if he'd get that good and he got a chance to see about three days after he came to camp.

Luke taught the lesson, he offered to be his partner since it was his first time. That was probably a mistake. He had assumed Luke would go easy on him. He taught Percy things the hard way. Raven was off Sparing with one of the Stolls brother, although he couldn't tell which one. She swung her long bronze blade, Artemis, like she was in a ballet. Her fighting style was calm and fluid, like she wasn't worried of getting hit at all. She wasn't perfect but she was good.

He took a moment to watch when Whap! Luke knocked the wind out of him.

By the time he called a break, Percy was soaked in sweat. Everybody swarmed the drinks cooler. Luke poured ice water on his head, which looked like such a good idea, Percy did the same. Instantly, he felt better. Strength surged back into my arms. His sword didn't feel so awkward.

"Circle up" Luke called, "Percy why don't we do a little demo?"

Percy groaned. Getting pummeled was one thing, doing it while everyone was watching was downright humiliating. But Percy went along with it. Luke explained how to use this technique to disarm your opponent. He tried it in slow motion and Percy's sword fell into the dirt.

"Okay in real time now!" Luke grinned, "Ready Perc?"

Percy Nodded. Somehow he kept up with Luke's strikes and managed to deflect Luke's strikes. Luke grinned and shouted encouragement. Percy even made a few strikes of his own, which Luke easily deflected. Percy knew Luke would disarm him soon so he tried the disarming maneuver.

Luke's sword fell to the dirt. There was silence. Percy looked around like he did something wrong before he heard someone in the crowd clapping. Raven was grinning at Percy and Luke joined her and so did the rest of the Hermes cabin.

"That was great Percy!" Luke grinned, "Wonder what you could do with a balance blade!" He whistled to make emphasis.

Percy had rockclimbing Friday, Grover had climbed up easily but he had almost got caught in the lava. They sat on the pier and talked for a while about Grover's searcher's license. It looked like Grover's conversation with Mr.D hadn't gone well. Grover's career seemed to be in shambles, Percy tried to cheer them up but Grover seemed to think he might as well give up. Percy wished he could get a quest so he could bring Grover and get his searcher's license but he didn't really suspect he'd get one anytime soon.

They ended up talking about the empty cabin's and that didn't turn into an cheerier a conversation. Grover explained the oath between the big three to Percy. When Percy asked if they had kept the oath he regretted asking.

Grover's face darkened. "Seventeen years ago, Zeus fell off the wagon. There was this TV starlet with a big fluffy eighties hairdo-he just couldn't help himself. When their child was born, a little girl named Thalia .. . well, the River Styx is serious about promises. Zeus himself got off easy because he's immortal, but he brought a terrible fate on his daughter."

"But that isn't fair.' It wasn't the little girl's fault."

Grover hesitated. "Percy, children of the Big Three have powers greater than other half-bloods. They have a strong aura, a scent that attracts monsters. When Hades found out about the girl, he wasn't too happy about Zeus breaking his oath. Hades let the worst monsters out of Tartarus to tor-ment Thalia. A satyr was assigned to be her keeper when she was twelve-"

"He tried his very best but there was nothing he could do. He tried to escort her here with a couple of other half-bloods she'd befriended. They almost made it. They got all the way to the top of that hill."

Grover and Percy Spun around. Raven sat down between the two. She always seemed to be there when important things were happening or important things were being discussed, She gave Grover a Sympathetic smile that Percy didn't quite understand but it seemed to comfort Grover.

"All three Kindly Ones were after them, along with a horde of hellhounds. They were about to be overrun when Thalia told her satyr to take the other two half-bloods to safety while she held off the monsters. She was wounded and tired, and she didn't want to live like a hunted animal. The satyr didn't want to leave her, but he couldn't change her mind, and he had to protect the others. So Thalia made her final stand alone, at the top of that hill. As she died, Zeus took pity on her. He turned her into that pine tree. Her spirit still helps protect the borders of the valley. That's why the hill is called Half-Blood Hill." Raven finished the story, "She was a brave girl."

The three of them sat in silent respect. Thalia hadn't deserved to die like that. She sacrificed herself to save her friends.

"So a satyr is always assigned to guard a demigod?" Percy asked to break the awkward silence.

Grover studied him warily. "Not always. We go undercover to a lot of schools. We try to sniff out the half-bloods who have the makings of great heroes. If we find one with a very strong aura, like a child of the Big Three, we alert Chiron. He tries to keep an eye on them, since they could cause really huge problems."

"And you found me. Chiron said you thought I might be something special."

Grover looked as if I'd just led him into a trap. Raven grinned at Grover's awkwardness, "I didn't... Oh, listen, don't think like that. If you were -you know- you'd never ever be allowed a quest, and I'd never get my license. You're probably a child of Hermes. Or maybe even one of the minor gods, like Nemesis, the goddess of revenge. Don't worry, okay?"

Raven looked insulted, "Who you callin' minor?"

Grover gulped, "That's not what I- uhhh" He looked at Percy for help. Percy just shrugged. Raven humped and folded her arms looking away as if disgusted, but Percy could tell she was just messing with the Satyr.

For the first time it occurred to Percy raven was the daughter of Nemesis, goddess of revenge. He knew she was daughter of Nemesis but it never occurred to him to ask who Nemesis was. Raven didn't strike him as a daughter of a revenge goddess.

"Nemesis is more than a revenge goddess," Raven said as if reading his thoughts, "She represents balance. Good things come at a price, Percy. No one person can have all good luck, but no one person can have all bad luck either. She makes things right with the world."

Percy got the feeling Raven might be overstating her mother but he didn't say anything to her. He'd never seen Raven all passionate like that before.

That night after dinner, there was a lot more excitement than usual and finally it was time for capture the flag. Raven seemed the most excited of everyone. He could tell she knew something was going to happen. Percy also knew something was going to happen but he had no idea what. Raven had said this game was important to him. When the plates were cleared away, the conch horn sounded and we all stood at our tables.

Campers yelled and cheered as Annabeth and two of her siblings ran into the pavilion carrying a silk banner. It was about ten feet long, glistening gray, with a painting of a barn owl above an olive tree. From the opposite side of the pavilion, Clarisse and her buddies ran in with another banner, of identical size, but gaudy red, painted with a bloody spear and a boar's head.

"We've made an alliance with the Athena cabin so we're trying to get the ares cabin's flags" Luke explained to percy.

"Do Athena and Ares always lead?" Percy asked.

"Not always, if was capture the flag the Hermes cabin will lead next time." Luke explained.

The teams were announced. Athena had made an alliance with Apollo and Hermes, the two biggest cabins. Apparently, privileges had been traded-shower times, chore schedules, the best slots for activities-in order to win support.

Ares had allied themselves with everybody else: Dionysus, Demeter, Aphrodite, and Hephaestus. From what I'd seen, Dionysus's kids were actually good athletes, but there were only two of them. Demeter's kids had the edge with nature skills and outdoor stuff but they weren't very aggressive. Aphrodite's sons and daughters I wasn't too worried about. They mostly sat out every activity and checked their reflections in the lake and did their hair and gossiped. Hephaestus's kids weren't pretty, and there were only four of them, but they were big and burly from working in the metal shop all day. They might be a problem. That, of course, left Ares's cabin: a dozen of the biggest, ugliest, meanest kids on Long Island, or anywhere else on the planet.

Chiron stomped his hooves and explained the rules and Spread his arms and the tables were covered with weapons and armor. Percy's eyes widen as kids rifled through the deadly weapons.

"We actually use these?' he asked

"Yea, unless you want Clarisse to turn you into a Percy-cabob." Raven smirked, All she'd armed herself with was her magical weapon Artemis, now in spear form. No matter what form her weapon took Percy could always tell it was Artemis because of the intricate designs across the metal. It looked like vines crawling up the celestial bronze. He still wondered why she would name her blade after the goddess artemis but the name certainly seemed to mean something to her.

Percy gulped and grabbed a shield about as big as a plastic sled. Luke slapped a blue helmet on Percy's head. Then the blue team marched on to the south woods as the blue team shouted taunts.

Percy made his way up to where Annabeth was, without tripping over his equipment. "Hey."

She kept marching.

"So what's the plan?" I asked. "Got any magic items you can loan me?"

Her hand drifted toward her pocket, as if she were afraid he'd stolen something.

"Just watch Clarisse's spear," she said. "You don't want that thing touching you. And watch out for Raven. Otherwise, don't worry. We'll take the banner from Ares. Has Luke given you your job?"

"Border patrol, whatever that means. wait what do you mean watch out for Raven?"

Annabeth ignored Percy's question. "It's easy. Stand by the creek, keep the reds away. Leave the rest to me. Athena always has a plan." She pushed ahead, leaving Percy in the dust.

"Okay," I mumbled. "Glad you wanted me on your team."

Percy and Raven sat alone at the banks. Percy eyed Raven cautiously. She sat up in a tree near the creek, changing artemis from spear form, to sword, to dagger to bow. The weapon morphing to her will. He wasn't sure what Annabeth had meant when she said to watch out for Raven but he was sure it wasn't anything good. Raven changed Artemis into a dagger and used it to pick out her fingernails.

From far away a conch horn blew. Percy could hear the whoops and yells in the woods, the clanking of metal, and kids fighting. A blue-plumed ally from Apollo raced past him and Raven like a deer, leaped through the creek, and disappeared into enemy territory. Raven stood up grabbing a branch above her to steady herself in the tree. She looked at Percy and gave him a wink before climbing higher into the tree until Percy could practically see up her skirt. Not that he'd look.

As soon as Raven disappeared into the foliage Percy felt a chill up his spine, and heard a low canine growl somewhere close by. He raised my shield looked around in all directions. Then the growling stopped. He felt the presence retreat.

On the other side of the creek, the underbrush exploded. Five Ares warriors came yelling and screaming out of the dark. "Cream the punk!" Clarisse screamed.

Somewhere up above he heard Raven call down "Good luck."

Clarisse glared Percy down as he watched the faint red light flickering across the tip of her spear. Her and her siblings charged across the creek at Percy, who half wanted to run and half wanted to defend his side. But five against one? That was insane.

He dodged the first swing but they quickly surrounded him and Percy felt his stomach lurch as Clarisse thrust her spear at him. He raises his shield to protect himself but the metal sent a quick shock through his whole body.

Percy fell back. He looked up at the tree Raven had disappeared into.

"Raven?" He called desperately, "Little help?"

Clarisse and her friends laughed. Clarisse sneered at Percy like he was an idiot.

"Raven isn't going to help you," She snorted, "She only plays for the winning side."

Percy was starting to get what Annabeth had been saying. Raven was her own cabin so she didn't have to honor the alliance the hermes cabin had made with the Athena cabin. So she could switch sides to help whoever was winning. Percy growled and got back to his feet as the Ares kids laughed and taunted him.

"Speaking of which, Raven," Clarisse called into the trees, "Have you seen enough to see the Ares cabin is going to be the winners yet?"

There was no answer from the trees so Clarisse and her friends focused their attention back on Percy. Two of the Ares kids came at him, forcing Percy to back up into the creek. Clarisse quickly came at him with her spear and hit him in the ribs. If it weren't for his breastplate he would have been struck through but instead it just sent the electric shock into his teeth. One of her cabinmates slashed his sword across Percy's arm, leaving a good-size cut.

Percy got dizzy at the sight of his own blood

"No maiming," he managed to say, trying to sound less scared than he actually was.

"Oops," the guy said. "Guess I lost my dessert privilege."

Percy was pushed back into the creek with a splash, he would have been concerned for his life if the water hadn't woken up his senses. When Clarisse and her friends waded into the creek Percy rose to meet them. He swung his sword instinctively and took out one of the Ares kids. This only seemed to anger the other kids. He was doing pretty good on his own but then a blaze of dark hair fell from the trees and knocked one of the Ares kids clean out while Percy took care of the other two.

"Now I've seen enough," Raven grinned at Percy, "Finish it."

Percy knew immediately what she meant. He caught the shaft of Clarisse's spear between the edge of his shield and his sword, and it snapped like a twig. Raven as Percy knocked Clarisse back into the water.

There were elated screams, as Luke racing toward the boundary line with the red team's banner lifted high. Raven whooped loudly, cheering her friend on. Luke was flanked by a couple of Hermes guys covering his retreat, and a few Apollos behind them, fighting off the Hephaestus kids. The Ares folks got up, and Clarisse muttered a dazed curse.

"A trick!" she shouted. "It was a trick."

They tried to follow Luke but he'd already crossed into friendly territory. The blue team exploded into cheers lifting Luke off the ground as the red banner shimmered from red to silver with a big caduceus, the symbol of cabin eleven on it. Chiron cantered out from the woods and blew the conch horn.

The game was over.

Percy was about to join the celebration when he heard Annabeth's voice next to him.

"Nice work hero."Percy looked around confused because Annabeth was no where to be seen.

"Where the heck did you learn to fight like that?" she asked. The air shimmered, and she materialized, holding a Yankees baseball cap as if she'd just taken it off her head. Percy blinked, not because he was surprised she was invisible but because he was surprised he wasn't surprised.

"You set me up," Percy realized, "You put me here because you knew Clarisse would come after me, while you sent Luke around the flank. You had it all figured out."

Annabeth shrugged, as if to say 'duh'. "I told you. Athena always, always has a plan."

"A plan to get me pulverized."

"I came as fast as I could. I was about to jump in, but ..." She shrugged. "You had Raven. besides it didn't look like you needed a whole lot of help."

Then she noticed my wounded arm. "How did you do that?"

"Sword cut," Percy said, bitterly, "What do you think?"

"No. It was a sword cut. Look at it."

The blood was gone. Where the huge cut had been, there was a long white scratch, and even that was fading. As they watched, it turned into a small scar, and disappeared.

Annabeth was thinking hard, like gears were turning in her head. She looked from Percy's feet, to Clarisse's broken spear, and said, "Step out of the water, Percy."

"What-"

"Just do it." She ordered. Percy stepped out of the creek and and immediately felt his bones ache and his arms started to go numb. All his previous energy left him. Percy would have fell on his butt if Annabeth hadn't steadied him.

"Oh, Styx," she cursed. "This is not good. I didn't want ... I assumed it would be Zeus... ."

Before Percy could even open his mouth he felt Raven's strong presence next to him as she muttered, "Ready Percy? The real show is about to begin."

That's when that canine growl cut through the air, much closer than before. A howl ripped through the forest and the cheering died down. replaced by nervous muttering. Chiron shouted something in Ancient Greek, which Percy realized he understood perfectly as: "Stand ready! My bow!"

Annabeth drew her sword and Raven changed Artemis into a bow.

There on the rocks just above the campers stood a black hound the size of a rhino, with lava-red eyes and fangs like daggers. It'd eyes locked on Percy. Everyone froze in stunned silence expect the girls at Percy's side.  
In unison they yelled, "Percy run!"

Annabeth tried to step in front but Raven held her back. It wouldn't have mattered anyway, the hellhound was too fast. Percy stumbled back and feeling razor sharp claws ripping through his armor, there was a cascade of thwacking sounds, like forty pieces of paper being ripped one after the other. From the hounds neck sprouted a cluster of arrows. The monster fell dead at Percy's feet.

Percy could feel the pain rippling through his chest and he knew he was badly hurt. Chiron and Raven ran over bows in hand. There were murmurs rippling through the crowd, everyone shocked. Luke rushed over and Annabeth's eyes were wide. Raven's eyes were wandering the crowd of campers.

"Di immortales!" Annabeth said. "That's a hellhound from the Fields of Punishment. They don't ... they're not supposed to ..."

"Someone summoned it," Chiron said. "Someone inside the camp."

Clarisse yelled, "It's all Percy's fault! Percy summoned it!"

"Shut up Clarisse," Raven snapped at her.

Chiron raised a hand to stop the arguing.

"You're wounded," Annabeth told me. "Quick, Percy, get in the water."

"I'm okay."

"No, you're not," she said. "Chiron, watch this."

Percy was too tired to argue and stepped back into the creek, the whole camp gathering around him expectantly. Instantly, Percy felt better. He could feel the cuts on my chest closing up. Some of the campers gasped.

"Look, I-I don't know why," Percy tried to apologize. "I'm sorry..."

But no ones eyes was on Percy's wounds they were staring above his head.

"Percy," Annabeth said, pointing. "Um ..."

By the time he looked up, the sign was already fading, but Percy could still make out the hologram of green light, spinning and gleaming. A three-tipped spear: a trident.

"Your father," Annabeth murmured. "This is really not good."

"It is determined," Chiron announced.

All around campers started kneeling, even the Ares cabin, though they didn't look happy about it.

"My father?" Percy asked, completely bewildered.

"Poseidon," said Chiron. "Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God."

Percy looked awestruck, and looked over Raven for confirmation. She nodded at Percy and smiled knowingly.


	7. Luke 7

Luke walked with Raven and his cabin mates back to

cabin eleven. Percy walked in the very back. Luke knew in the morning Percy would be moved to Cabin 3. For some reason that made him relieved. He always had the feeling he wasn't supposed to like Percy, but he did. The kid was cool and funny. He was still getting those dreams telling him to turn his back on the gods and Camp Half Blood, but he refused to listen to them. He had Raven to thank for that. She was one of the only things anchoring him down.

Raven was so different than the other demigods he'd met. She was twelve but she was so mature and smart. She said it was because of the deal she had with Apollo, but he never believed she'd really meet the prophecy god. He believed there was something else going on. Either way whatever it was she acted older than she was. Sometimes Luke had to remind himself she was twelve.

Luke held the door while the rest of the Hermes cabin filed in. Raven stood beside him eying him. When everyone had gone in Raven caught his arm. Her piercing blue eyes gazing into his own. She whispered harshly through the cold air, "We need to talk."

Luke and Raven snuck off quietly. Raven's face was hard. It made her look so much older. The moonlight bounced off her silver circlet which Luke could easily read as 'bringer of hope'. Raven finally stopped at the end of the woods. She turned to face Luke.

"Did you summon that hellhound in the woods?" She asked deadly serious.

Luke blinked surprised, "No! No why would I do that?"

Raven narrowed her eyes as if that were hard to believe. Then Luke came to the icy realization that he was supposed to do that. He knew what his fate was supposed to be. He was supposed to join Kronus, hurt the people who cared for him most and die. To be honest he might have done it. It wasn't a crazy thought to him. But he had stopped. Not because he didn't want to die, but because he didn't want to hurt Annabeth. Raven made him realize that.

Raven was making sure he hadn't fallen off the wagon.

"That means someone else did..." Raven muttered angrily.

"Who?" Luke asked, curiously. Raven gave him a withering look before turning her head and for the first time, Luke realized she didn't know.

"Are you still having those dreams?" she asked changing the subject.

Luke nodded, "But their getting weaker. Like he's given up."

"Good, that's because he's found someone else. He doesn't need you." Raven said nodding. "You mustn't fall into his grip Luke. No matter how much you hate the gods or how hurt you feel. You must resist."

Luke's body tensed. He had changed his destiny and Raven still didn't seem to trust him. That wouldn't have bothered him if it were anyone else. "Why such little faith?" He muttered.

"It's not that I don't trust you," Raven said, her face softening, "But the titan lord is a powerful force... I- Annabeth can't lose you..."

Raven paused and for the first time something dawned on Luke.

"Annabeth or you?" He asked.

"Luke..." Raven started but she trailed off. Luke had known Annabeth for so long. He knew she liked him but he had always just seen her as a little sister. She was so young, wise but still immature. When he was with Raven, he could feel how mature she was. How much older she was inside. When she was around he started to feel things he hadn't felt since...well Thalia.

Luke bent down and kissed Raven on the cheek. Raven's cheeks inflamed and before he knew it she had grabbed his neck and pecked him lightly on the lips. Before pulling away embarrassed.

"I think I might like you." Raven said after a long moment of silence.

Luke paused for a moment. He looked at Raven in the low might. Her eyes shined, worriedly.

"We can't...I'm...You're- you're twelve..."He said twelve the way someone might say 'contagious'

"Technically I'm fifteen..." She muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing."

Luke looked at Raven and frowned. He couldn't hurt her. So this couldn't happen. End of story. He sighed and Raven hugged herself. They sat outside like that for a long while without talking. The wind blowing through their hair.

"If it's any consolation..." Luke said, "I think I might like you too."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" She laughed, "This wasn't supposed to happen...I was supposed to save everyone that was it. This wasn't part of the plan."

"What plan?"

"To make everyone happy. I saved you to make Annabeth happy. Not so I could get googly eyed and side tracked." She turned away and started back to the Hermes cabin.

"And what about you Raven?" Luke called after her.

"I don't matter." She shot back, "I'm not the hero."

Luke watched her dash off into the woods. As soon as she left he cursed and kicked a tree. Unfortunately that didn't help him much. He sat down on the ground and pouted. Raven was right. Things weren't supposed to be like this. He ran a hand through his sandy blond hair. He waited a long while in hopes that when he returned Raven would be asleep but somehow he doubted that either of them would be doing much sleeping that night.

When Luke returned to the Cabin Raven had fallen asleep. She looked like she had been crying which made the twisting feeling in his chest that much worse. He kissed her on the forehead and slumped back into his bunk. He tried to sleep but his mind buzzed with activity but eventually his body demanded sleep and he shut his eyes.

That night the dreams were worse. He was back in that mansion; He had let Thalia follow that stupid goat. He had known it was a trap, but he couldn't say no to Thalia. He had never had the power to say no to Thalia Grace.

Thalia walked up the steps and looked around, but when she looked back at Luke she crumbled into a pile of dead leaves. He saw Hal, the son of Apollo who had sacrificed himself for him and Thalia to escape. He tried to call out for him to run but it was too late. The Greek fire exploded and the scene shifted. He was in a dark room. He was all alone. He heard Annabeth screaming somewhere, and Raven calling for him in the other direction. He felt a cold hand caress his cheek and disappear. A voice hissed in the dark, "The gods curse you, Luke...they took Thalia...they never helped you...they'll take Annabeth and Raven too..."

"No...!" Luke screamed trying to cover his ears, "I can protect them! I'll protect them all!"

The voice chuckled in the dark, somehow it didn't sound human. "Them all you say?"

Suddenly he saw Annabeth being cornered by a Cyclops to his right screaming, just like in the mansion on the way to Camp half blood. He ran to help her but to his left he heard Raven calling his name. He saw her surrounded by hell hounds and the furies, like Thalia had been on her last night, sacrificing herself to save him and Annabeth.

"You can't save them all Luke," The voice said, "Only if you join me."

"No!" Luke shouted desperately, "Stop it!"

He shut his eyes tightly and covered his ears shrinking to his knees listening to his friends scream and beg for his help on either side. He was only released when he felt soft hands on his shoulders and a girl's voice whispered in his ear, "Wake up."

Luke bolted upright. He was safe in the Hermes cabin. Everyone was still asleep, he looked over to where Raven should have been but she wasn't there. That wouldn't have been normal except her stuff was gone as well. There was a note on the ground where her sleeping bag and backpack usually was. He got up and picked it up. It was a piece of paper ripped out of her journal; the one Annabeth had given her.

It read: "_I have a job to do. I'm sorry._"


	8. Luke 8

Luke had tried absolutely everything. He's searched the camp twice over. He'd told Chiron and Dionysus that she was missing. Chiron sent out a few satyrs to try and find her but somehow luke knew they wouldn't find her. He was worried out of his mind. He knew how dangerous it could be out there even for a child of the minor gods she could get hurt. He made Chiron promise not to tell Annabeth. He didn't want her to worry. He'd find Raven.

His sword fighting lessons with Raven were empty so he started to teach percy one on one as well, since no one in the Hermes cabin would train with him after what he did to the ares kids. But his heart wasn't really in it, He was too worried about Raven to properly fight.

Percy didn't look anymore happy than Luke, but he thought that was more because of the way people had been treating him at camp. Especially Annabeth who was now convinced she didn't want to have anything to do with a son of the sea god. Although Luke could see she was still hoping he was demigod to take her on her quest.

Percy didn't ask where Raven was but Luke could tell he wanted to. Almost no one knew, except Chiron, Luke, and the entirety of Cabin Eleven. The rest of the camp could have cared less about the mysterious dark hair girl who had come and gone in about a year. Annabeth had noticed but Luke had told her she was off visiting her dad. He didn't even know if that was possible. Raven had never mentioned a thing about her home life. Everytime he asked she closed up and got this sad look in her eyes.

It was a few day later when Percy got the offer of a quest. It was either that or be turned into a dolphin. news of the quest spread quickly. It was the first one since...well his own. Naturally Annabeth had volunteered to come with them. Percy had accepted the company. Grover, Annabeth and Percy were heading out on a quest of major importance and Luke didn't even know what it was. That was a little much to add onto his previous worry.

Luke decided he might as well make a bad situation work for him. He grabbed his winged sneakers, a gift from his dad and ran off to meet Percy and Annabeth and Grover before they left.

"Just wanted to say good luck," Luke told them. "And I thought ... um, maybe you could use these."

He handed percy the sneakers

Luke said, "Maia!"

White bird's wings sprouted out of the heels, startling Percy so much, he dropped them. The shoes flapped around on the ground until the wings folded up and disappeared.

"Awesome!" Grover said.

Luke smiled sadly. "Those served me well when I was on my quest. Gift from Dad. Of course, I don't use them much these days..."

Percy blushed almost as much as Annabeth which would have made Luke laugh except he had a favor to ask of the trio.

"Look guys..." Luke said mainly looking at Annabeth, "I haven't been honest with you guys really...The thing is..." He looked around to meet the faces for these kids. It felt strange entrusting them with this but he swallowed his pride. "Raven...she's missing."

Annabeth's eyes widened. "But you said."

"I know, I know," Luke said, "I just didn't want you to worry and it was my fault. It's just if you see her on your quest...tell her I'm sorry and to come home."

Luke felt like a fool. He shouldn't have kissed her or said anything. He should have left things as they were. Raven just reminded him so much of Thalia. Now she was gone and probably in danger and he was intrusting three kids to go look for her.

Percy put an arm on Luke's shoulder, which surprised luke,

"Don't worry," he said, "We'll find her."

He looked up at Percy who smiled at him concerned. he looked at Annabeth who now looked worried sick, after all Raven had been her best friend. But still she looked focused and determined now. Somehow he trusted these guys to find her.

"Thanks," He smiled sadly and shook percy's hand. He patted grover between the horns and hugged Annabeth who looked like she might pass out.

Luke walked away and watched Percy, Annabeth and grover disappear over the side of the hill. Knowing those three were on the look out made Luke feel better but he was still worried. Once again he went to the Hermes cabin and tried to send Raven an Iris message. Once again it didn't go through.

He sat on his bunk and frowned. He thought about his dream. Raven surrounded by monsters. Annabeth cornered. Thalia's voice in his ears. Kronus's icy inhuman voice telling him he couldn't save them all. Not unless he joined him. Raven had been his anchor to reality. What if she was lost? what if she died? what if it was his fault?

He pushed the thought out of his brain and went down to the Arena to practice. He took out his obsidian blade Raven had given him. He was never quite sure where she had gotten the black blade but he carried it with him as a sort of decorative piece. Not so much for fighting. now he was shredding the straw dummies up with it. The obsidian blade cutting them like paper. He ripped them apart until they were piled of straw, one by one. He was soaked with sweat. He gritted his teeth.

He didn't expect anything to be resolved by this. He just felt like blowing off some steam. He was tired and sat on the ground. He slide his blade back into his belt. His mind went dull. He focus on the rolling clouds overhead and the clapping of thunder. He didn't bother going inside. The storm would pass over head like the rest. Raion didn't enter the camp unless they wanted it to.

What was he doing here. If he were a real man he'd be out there looking for Raven himself. If Thalia were here she'd make some big headed comment and go marching off to find her. Raven would do the same thing. He kind of thought that was what he liked about Raven. It was so unfair. He felt like he was using her to fill the void she's left. It wasn't fair to Raven. It wasn't fair to himself.

The only reason he was even here right now was because Raven had saved him. She'd saved him for Annabeth a girl she had hardly knew at the time. He owed his life to Raven he knew that, and he had driven her away. He'd hurt her as a thanks. he wanted to scream and destroy something. He wanted revenge on everyone who'd wronged him.

_Only when Annabeth is screaming at you that you're supposed to be family do you come to your senses and kill yourself to stop Kronus from rising. You die in her arms._

He heard Raven's voice in his head. It calmed him. Brought him back to reality. He didn't have time for self-pity. He had a girl to look for and a Cabin to run. He got up off the ground and jogged off towards the Hermes cabin.


	9. Raven 9

**Author's note: Okay guys so like I wanted to talk a little bit about the Luke and Raven thing in this Fanfiction. So like before people start going in the reviews and telling me they're age difference is too big and it's gross and they shouldn't get together, yada yada, Let me all tell you right now. They do NOT get together don't worry. I do know however the age thing might offend people so I'm sorry for that, so I don't know what you want me to do, rewrite it or change the rating of the story or put a warning in the description, I live to serve you guys so whatever you want me to do guy PM me and i'll have it done! just don't put it in the reviews cause i don't want it swamped please and thank you. But you know I kinda wanted to clear up what was going on between them so you guys know. Okay so first off my point is that Raven is technically 15 years old as she almost admits to Luke before thinking better of it. Still it's a bit of an age difference I get it. But even before she got turned twelve again, Raven was a mature young lady, she knows how to handle herself and is very knowing and thinks things through as you see in the story, not just because she knows the future but because she is a problem solver. Also to be fair I wasn't and am still not one hundred percent certain how old Luke actually is. I don't think they ever actually tell you in the books. Furthermore, Luke doesn't really have any romantic feelings towards Raven in the story. He loves her in a little sister sense but mostly he feels like he owes her. She saved him from making the biggest mistake of his life. He's in love with Thalia and since Raven looks and sometimes acts like Thalia Luke is rather nostalgic around her. In the woods he kisses her on the cheek in a kind of wistful way, Raven's the one who kisses him for a second before he pulls away and shuts her down because she's too young. He ends up tell her that he likes her back because he doesn't want to make her feel bad. Which i get is a shitty decisions but come on guys this is Luke ya know, served Kronus Luke he is kind of known for bad decisions. Anyway needless to say Raven does not get with Luke because that would be super creepy but I'm trying to make this realistic. Sometimes 15 year old girls get crushes on older guys, sometimes they act on those feelings without thinking and it ends bad. I mean have you ever read the sisterhood of the traveling pants? Anyway Raven goes through many crushes throughout the course of the story and after her frailer with Luke she finds a much more appropriate crush on (Spoiler) Percy. So keep reading. Review, PM me whatever share it with friends. Thanks!**

Raven watched as Percy's bus came to a whirling stop and smashed into a tree. Wow it had been less than a day those three had already ruined a perfectly good bus. Of course she already knew they would. Raven was wearing her Camp Half Blood tee beneath a blue sweatshirt. She leaned against a tree close by. Raven couldn't see but she already knew what was going on inside the bus. Percy was fighting with the Furies. She watched as Percy and his friends left the bus sword in hand.

Raven watched as the bus exploded in a flash of light and Percy and his friends disappeared into the woods. When she was sure they had left she went down to assess the damage the demigods had caused.

The tourist stood gaping at the bus. Raven folded her arms.

"Oh my god!" She yelled in mock surprise, "Who was that kid? Did anyone get his picture?"

One of the mortal men raised his hand. "Yea, Yea I got his picture." He raised his picture.

Raven walked over and took the picture from the guy. Before he even knew what was going on Raven slammed the Camera into the asphalt and ran off in the same direction as Percy, Annabeth and Grover. If Percy was going to be a fugitive she might as well make it as hard as possible for anyone to catch him.

She was running through the woods when she realized she'd lost them. Dang. She had planned to meet up with them at Medusa's lair. Now she was wandering. She would have wandered the woods until she came out the wrong way and lost the group completely if it hadn't been for Angel.

She wasn't really an Angel. In fact she didn't look all that different than the first time Raven had seen her. She was just as beautiful in her long white dress and jewelry. She was sitting on a marble bench beneath a tree. Raven nearly tripped over her. She recognized the woman immediately. The only difference was now she had beautiful pure white wings. Raven stared at her.

"You..." She murmured.

"Hush now child," She hummed, "Sit. Let us talk for a while."

She made room for Raven on the bench and she sat. She seemed to be making some kind of flower crown of branches and beautiful purple flowers, Saffron. Her fingers were red and soft looking. She nearly jumped out of her skin when saw a grasshopper on her shoulder. It seemed to be glaring at her.

"You're Eos," Raven concluded. Her fingers and the grasshopper, was a dead giveaway.

"That I am," Eos nodded.

"You granted my wish?"

"That I did."

"Why," Raven asked, "Why grant my wish?"

"There are many reasons I would wish to help you child." The grasshopper was still glaring at her. "First of all. I am the goddess of hope. And I have realized I have neglected to do my job. The demigods in your book, care too little hope. I believe you can give them the hope I neglected to."

Raven's hand drifted up to her silver circlet. "Bringer of hope. You're the one who gave me the bag and the book and Artemis."

Eos nodded, "Artemis, That's an interesting name for a weapon. Many myths depict me as a 'non-virginal Artemis'"

"You said there were other reason's you granted my wish what were they," Raven pressed.

Eos smiled at Raven's eagerness, "You are kind child, and you were willing to give a begger woman hope when no one else would. That is how I knew I had made the right choice. I have been watching you since you were small..."

"Watching me?" Raven said, "But I'm not...I'm not anything special. I'm not a hero."

Eos chuckled, "You are my hero, Raven. As I am your patron goddess. Do not sell yourself short, and do not disappoint me. You have a great light in you, Greater than the rosy-fingered dawn and kinder than any other. You will make a fine hero."

"But..."

"Hush now child," She said rising from the bench, "Now raise and go find your friends. They need your help."

Raven stood as a gold light lite a path through the forest. Raven smiled and bowed to Eos. "Thank you, my lady, I won't disappoint you." But when she looked up the goddess was already gone. She smiled and followed the path down to that would lead her to her friends.

Raven was halfway down the path when it started raining. She shouldered her backpack and raced on. At this rate was going to miss all the fun. She came into a clearing and there it was Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium. She could see the three of them posing for Medusa's picture. She could sense Annabeth was nervous, telling them all there was something wrong. She drew Artemis and changed into Bow form. She shot an arrow by the woman's head and shouted, "Hit the deck!"

Annabeth snapped on her Yankee's cap of invisibility and tackled the boys to the ground. Raven shot another arrow, careful to scare the woman and catch her off guard but not kill her. That was Percy's job. She ran down the slope and joined her friends. Annabeth was invisible and Grover had flown into the air on Luke's winged shoes. Percy was on the ground in front of Medusa. She was rasping about what Athena had done to her a long time ago but Raven didn't give her the privilege to finish. She body slammed the woman to the ground.

"Percy run!" She growled, turning Artemis to sword form. Percy got the message this time and scrambled to one side. Medusa hissed with rage. She laughed and called up to the floating satyr, "Your turn Grover! For Uncle Ferdinand!"

Grover hit Medusa with a tree branch. She whooped and grabbed Percy pulling him off to the side. Annabeth appeared next to them and threw her arms around Raven, "You Moron! Luke told us you ran away!"

Raven shrugged, "Annabeth we have bigger problems to worry about right now."

"Right, Raven you have to cut off her head," Annabeth said. As if she didn't already know what had to be done. Raven shook her head.

"Not me," She said, "Percy."

Annabeth and Percy looked at Raven as if she were insane.

"You have the better weapon! And more experience." Annabeth protested.

"But this is Percy's quest. He won't become strong if I do all the work for him."

Raven ran over and shoved the glass ball from one of the statues and shoved it into Percy's arms, "Look at her reflection. If you look at her directly she'll turn you to stone. Goop get her, champ." She shoved Percy in Medusa's direction where Grover was fluttering around navigating by sound and smell.

Grover crashed with a painfully sound as Percy inched closer with his bronze sword riptide. Her voice enticing Percy to lower his weapon. Annabeth's eyes were shut and she was muttering. Raven was pretty sure she was praying to Athena for Percy not to mess up.

"Don't listen to her Percy!" Grover called but it was too late Raven who had her eyes covered with her hand, heard a scuffle and when she looked up, Medusa' head lay on the ground next to Percy's feet. She didn't have to look to know.

"Ewww," She whined. Annabeth ran over and grabbed Medusa's vail.

"Hold on," She said Very, very carefully, without looking down, she knelt and draped the monster's head in black cloth, then picked it up. It was still dripping green juice.

"Are you okay?" she asked Percy, her voice trembling.

"Yea," Percy breathed, "why didn't the head disintegrate?"

"Spoils of war," Raven said, "Come on, we shouldn't stay here long. We have less time than you think."

She walked back into the warehouse and started filling her bag. It fit everything she needed magically. Annabeth, Percy and Grover followed her inside. Raven tossed a plastic bag at Annabeth which fluttered to the ground. Her friends looked drained but Raven buzzed with adrenaline. "Doubt wrap that thing would you?"

Annabeth did and the three of them plopped down at the table while Raven stuffed her bag with supplies. Finally Percy said, "So we have Athena to thank for this monster?"

Raven rolled her eyes, "Percy, didn't you take my advice from you first day at Yancy? I said read you mythology textbook. If you had you would know we actually have your dad to thank for it. Annabeth elaborate for me?"

Annabeth glared at Percy as well, "Medusa was Poseidon's girl-friend. They decided to meet in my mother's temple. That's why Athena turned her into a monster. Medusa and her two sisters who had helped her get into the temple, they became the three gorgons. That's why Medusa wanted to slice me up, but she wanted to preserve you as a nice statue. She's still sweet on your dad. You probably reminded her of him."

"Oh," Percy opened his mouth to say more but Raven cut him off. She didn't have time to listen to Annabeth and Percy's lovers spat. She shouldered her bag and walked over patting Percy on the back.

"Don't worry guys," she said, "It was no one's fault, and besides you all did great! You especially Percy."

She grinned at her friends, and Percy gave her a faint smile. Annabeth pouted and Grover looked like he was ready to fall asleep. She hopped back over to the counter and continued to riffle through Medusa's things. It was only a matter of time before she found what she was looking for. She hoped over the counter and laid out her findings on the table. Twenty dollars, a few golden drachmas, and some packing slips for Hermes Overnight Express, each with a little leather bag attached for coins and a box. She beamed at Percy.

"Our little hero ready to tell off the gods for the first, and let me tell you, not the last time?" she grinned at Percy who looked back with his big sea green eyes. He looked confused for a second and looked over Raven supplies. It took him a second to get it but then his face lit up in a way that made Raven's stomach jumpy. The way it did when she would stay up late reading the climax of one of the Percy Jackson books. Being there in real life maximized the feeling.

"Raven," Percy said, "I like the way you think."

He got to work, packing up the Medusa head and filling out the delivery slip.

_The Gods _

_Mount Olympus _

_600th Floor, _

_Empire State Building _

_New York, NY _

_With best wishes, _

_PERCY JACKSON_

Percy closed the pouch and it made the sound of a cash register and disappeared. Grover and Annabeth both looked concerned but Raven gave them a knowing look. Annabeth muttered to herself then seemed to remember something.

"Raven!" Annabeth said nearly jumping out her seat.

"Yea?"

"What are you doing here, Luke said you ran away," Raven winced at the name Luke. Sure it had hurt he rejected her. But it wasn't as if he had a choice. She was twelve here. It was weird. But that wasn't the reason she had run away, or at least not the entire reason. No she'd run away to join her friends on this quest. Normally only three people could go on these quests so she'd needed another way in, instead of joining up with them at camp she'd decided she'd join up with them along the way. She shrugged.

"Things happened," She said casually, "But I'm here now. I've come to help on the quest."

The three of them looked at each other.

"Raven we already have three people..." Annabeth said, "Besides people are looking for you. You should go back to camp and let Luke know you're okay."

Raven scowled at the thought. Her own best friend didn't want her on the quest with them? What was this? She didn't make this wish so she could sit back at camp with the guy who'd rejected her while the rest of them went on the quest. She was here to correct the things they were going to do wrong.

"Annabeth," She said calmly, "on this trip you will have to fight a god, nearly fall into Tartarus, loss half the days you have in a time warp, fall off the St. Louis arch, and be chased by the cops-"

"Okay okay," Annabeth said, "Don't do that future telling thing like that it's creepy."

"The point is, you can do it all on your own sure but it's going to be a heck of a lot harder without me."

"Come on guys," Percy piped in, "Raven's helped out a lot. She saved my life today. It's not like it will hurt to let her come."

Annabeth mumbled something in Greek and shrugged, "Fine...As long as I know you're safe. You totally scared me when I heard you went missing."

"Sorry," Raven said patting Annabeth's blond curls, "No promises it won't happen again. Anyway like I said we have less time than you guys think so we shouldn't stay here long. Come on."

"I didn't think we had much time to begin with," Grover complained, But Raven was already shouldering her bag and walking out the door.


	10. Raven 10

They'd ended up camping in the woods. Raven kept her friends moving as far as they could but they eventually insisted they all needed to rest and raven agreed. But Raven couldn't sleep at all. She was afraid. Ever since she'd left camp she'd been having nightmares whenever she closed her eyes. Of Luke and of Percy and a little dark haired boy she could only assume was Nico di Angelo, and a blond boy she at first thought was Jason Grace, but later thought might be someone else... Each of them met a horrible fate in her dreams and an inhuman voice telling her she'd pay for ruining his plans. She stayed awake and cleaned up the trash from the area. She couldn't stand the fact some people had no respect for nature. Grover helped.

"This is sick..." She muttered. Grover and Raven exchanged a look. She knew the satyr understood the environment and the damage humans caused. She could tell he was grateful at least one human understood. She looked over at Percy and Annabeth, "You guys go ahead and sleep, I'll keep first watch."

"No..." Percy insisted, although she could tell he was tired, "I'll keep first watch. You girls sleep."

"Ah," She said with a smirk, "Chivalry isn't dead."

Raven lay down on the blanket next to Annabeth and closed her eyes. She didn't sleep though. She listened to the boy's speak of Pan the great god of the wilderness. She listened until sleep demanded her attention.

Raven hadn't expected them to really get advice from a poodle. Okay yes she did but it was a lot weirder than even she imagined. She couldn't stop laughing as Percy said hello to a pink fluffy toy dog. Anyway Grover and Annabeth's plan worked. Raven, Grover, Percy and Annabeth were on their way west on a train. Raven was the only one who seemed to relax. Thanks to her good work Percy's picture didn't show up in the newspaper. But the story did, which she could tell made Percy tense. He paced the length of the train. The money they had turned in for the poodle would only take them as far as Denver but Raven had found enough money in her bag to afford a sleeping car. She thanked Eos who she was sure was the one keeping her bag stocked with all sorts of useful stuff.

Percy and Grover dozed off but Raven and Annabeth both stayed wide awake.

"Raven..." Annabeth was staring out the window and trying to ignore Grover's snoring and Percy's drooling and mumbling.

"Yes, wise girl," She teased.

"When you ran away from Camp Half Blood...Luke seemed to think it was his fault...What happened?" Concern swirled in Annabeth's cold gray eyes. Raven sat next to Annabeth in the car. She was starting to remember why she cared about saving Luke in the first place. It was for Annabeth. She was stubborn and snarky but she was smart and concerned. She'd saved Luke for Annabeth. To make her happy.

"Nothing really," Raven shrugged, "It wasn't about Luke. It was about you. I wanted to go on this quest to help you."

"Oh," Annabeth said, "Well...more than three people on a quest is dangerous you know... It's a lucky number in Greek. Besides we would be fine on our own..."

"I know," Raven smiled, "I know you would have..."

"I won't help you..." Percy mumbled in his sleep. Annabeth and Raven exchanged a look and smiled.

"I think you should get that," Raven giggled.

Annabeth got up and shook Percy awake. Percy bolted upright and Raven walked down the length of the train. She sat alone at the back of the train. It was a long way to ride and Raven had trouble sitting still. She tapped her foot impatiently. She didn't want to go back to the car, Annabeth and Percy were talking and it was meant to be private. Somehow that made her stomach churn. The way it did when she saw Luke and Annabeth back at camp. Just a little closer bond than Raven would ever have. Just a little...Jealous.

The second day on the train they passed the St. Louis arch. Raven had never seen it in real life before but she'd always wanted to. But however excited Raven was Annabeth was way more excited. She gazed at the thing as if it were made of gold. The train pulled into the station with a lurch and Grover woke up.

"Come on boys," Annabeth and Raven rose to their feet, "Me and Annabeth have a date with the St. Louis arch."

Grover and Percy exchanged a look but followed.

The Arch was about a mile from the train station. Late in the day the lines to get in weren't that long. The group threaded its way through the underground museum, looking at covered wagons and other junk from the 1800s. It wasn't all that thrilling, but Annabeth kept spouting out interesting facts about how the Arch was built, and Grover Percy and Raven shared jelly beans.

Percy looked around nervously, and Raven put a hand on his shoulder. She gave him a reassuring smile. "Don't worry Percy," She hummed, "No one's going to attack us here."

Of course she was lying but Percy nodded and seemed to relax. They walked along listening to Annabeth ramble which Raven though was kind of cute. Yup Raven had relaxed Percy, until he saw the elevator car. He looked like he might pass out and she got the feeling. Raven was claustrophobic. But they all clambered into the elevator with the old fat lady with the Chihuahua that Raven already knew was, Echidna. She couldn't help but glare at the fat woman that was about to attack them, but she knew Percy could handle it.

Percy nudged her, "Don't worry Raven, no one's going to attack us here." He gave her a sort of smile, repeating her words back to her. Her heart only beat more steadily in her chest, which might have been from anticipation...or maybe from something else. She shook her head. Focus.

They all reached the top of the arch and Annabeth started talking again about the structure of the arch and things she would have done when a robotic sounding voice announced on the intercom that the observation deck would be closing. Percy took that as his cue to get out. Raven made a point to stay behind Percy as he loaded Grover and Annabeth into the elevator.

"Next car sir," The park ranger said and Annabeth and Grover exchanged a look.

"We'll get out..." Annabeth said, "We'll wait for you guys."

"No it's okay, we'll just see you at the bottom, right Perc?" Raven said looking at Percy. Percy nodded. Annabeth and Grover both looked nervous but Raven just waved her hand, "Come on guys, he's got me with him. I won't let anything happen."

Grover and Annabeth let the elevator door slide shut. Their car disappeared down the ramp. Raven kept her eyes on the fat lady with the dog. Percy smiled dorkily at the fat lady, while Raven glared. She smiled and her forked tongue flicked out from between her teeth making Raven tense. The dumb dog started barking and yapping at Percy and foaming at the mouth which sent sparks up Raven's spine.

"Now, now, sonny," the lady said. "Does this look like a good time? We have all these nice people here."

"Doggie!" said the little boy. "Look, a doggie!"

His parents pulled him back. Raven couldn't help but think: smart parents.

The Chihuahua bared his teeth at them,

"Well, son," the fat lady sighed. "If you insist."

"Um, did you just call that Chihuahua your son?" Percy said confused, and a little freaked. Raven could relate.

"Chimera, dear," the fat lady corrected. "Not a Chihuahua. It's an easy mistake to make." She rolled up her denim sleeves, revealing that the skin of her arms was scaly and green. When she smiled her teeth were fangs and the pupils of her eyes were side-ways slits, like a reptile's. Raven gulped ready to reach for Artemis. She could tell Percy already had one hand on Riptide.

She watched and waited while the monster grew until it was as tall as the ceiling. Raven was scared but she forced herself to remain calm. She had to pull herself together, and be strong.

"I thought you said nothing was going to attack us here," Percy said

"I might not have been 100% honest with you..." Raven admitted.

"Raven!"

The Monster lunged and Percy and Raven ducked to either side. Echidna laughed "Be honored, Percy Jackson. Lord Zeus rarely allows me to test a hero with one of my brood. For I am the Mother of Monsters, the terrible Echidna!"

"Isn't that a type of anteater...?" Percy said.

"Percy this isn't the time!" Raven reminded him.

The Chimera charged again this time towards Raven who held Artemis in dagger form, too distracted to change it into a more useful tool. She slashed at the monsters jaw and it howled gnashing its teeth at her.

"Hey, Chihuahua!" She heard Percy call and The Chimera turned to face him instead. Raven couldn't see much but she heard a sound that she assumed was Percy blowing a hole in a national monument. She stabbed the monster in the back leg and it turned back on Raven who dove under its feet and came back up next to Percy.

It came to face both the demigods and Percy slashed at it with riptide. Raven watched him lose balance and get hit in the leg with the Chimera's serpent leg. Percy yelled out in pain. Raven fought off the monster but the monster was no longer interested in her. He focused on Percy, knocking riptide from his hand. Luckily Percy got back on his feet but now only Raven had a weapon.

Percy backed into the wall and Raven held up her Dagger to defend him. But there was no way she could win this fight alone...

"They don't make heroes like they used to, eh, son?" Echidna laughed and Raven growled. Percy looked towards the hole, down at the Mississippi river. Raven knew if he jumped he'd survive. But what of her? Would the monsters leave her if Percy dove into the water? She doubted that.

"If you are the son of Poseidon," Echidna hissed, "you would not fear water. Jump, Percy Jackson. Show me that water will not harm you. Jump and retrieve your sword. Prove your bloodline."

"Jump Percy," Raven growled quietly.

"What?" Percy said,

"I said jump!" she said, she pushed Percy into the hole. If Percy died here trying to protect her everything would be ruined. If Raven died. Things would be restored to normal. That was fine. She was willing to die if it meant Percy could live.

What Raven wasn't counting on however was for Percy to instinctively grab onto raven's wrist in the process. She fell into the hole as well and plummeted towards the water below.

Raven didn't remember much of the fall except screaming. She cursed herself. This was such a dumb wish. She felt like an idiot. What the hell was she thinking? She was just a little mortal girl from Connecticut, what could she possibly do, except get herself killed here? She didn't know if she was crying because the wind would have just ripped the tear from her eyes if she was. But then Percy grabbed her and held her as they fell, as if trying to shield her from the fall. She held onto Percy and hoped she wouldn't die.

When they hit the water they were submerged in a sea of white bubbles. Percy's arms were still tightly around her. She breathed a sigh of relief. She hadn't died. It took her another moment to realize, she had just _breathed_ a sigh of relief. She was in the middle of the Mississippi river and she was breathing underwater. She wasn't any expert on these things but she was pretty sure most daughters of Nemesis couldn't do that. Percy had apparently discovered he could breathe to and detangled himself from Raven.

Raven's hand lifted to touch her throat and realized she could breathe because an air bubble was encasing her from the neck up. Her blue choker, the one she'd found her in bag the first day she came to this world was glowing faintly.

Her choker was a magical item.

"Percy...?" She called, "Are you okay?"

"Yea..." Percy said a little unsure, "I think I'm good."

She watched him touch his skin and explore his underwater powers, while Raven swam to keep up. Raven had been on the varsity swim team but she was nothing compared to Percy. She heard Percy mutter thanks. His black hair floated in the water, in weird angles. And her sea green eyes looked mysterious underwater. Raven swam over breathing heavy.

"Sorry..." He muttered and took her hand to toe her along.

He finally found a firm place to stand and Raven sank to the bottom of the river. Percy looked around. As if listening for someone. Raven shouldered her bag, she almost panicked when she realized her books were wet and shoved the bag to Percy, who shouldered it. Instantly her things dried and she sighed again in relief.

"Where are you?" Percy called aloud, as if having a one sided conversation.

Then, through the gloom Raven saw who Percy was talking to. A woman the color of the water, a ghost in the current, floating just above Percy's sword, sticking out in the mud. She had long billowing hair, and her eyes, barely visible, were green like Percy's.

"Mom?" Percy asked, sounding heartbroken. Raven felt sorry for him, but she knew he'd get his mom back.

He continued the conversation with the water spirit until the woman faded. He waded over to riptide and picked it out of the mud. He capped it and stuck it in his pocket. Raven waded over and put a hand on his shoulder. He gave Raven a withering smile and took her hand, which made her jump a little, and her heart beat so loud she felt like it might jump out of her chest.

She hadn't felt like that when she was with Luke...

He kicked them towards shore and they came up near a McDonalds a block away. They made their way past the TV crew reporting the incident. Raven scowled. Finally they heard Annabeth and Grover calling out for them.

"Over here," Raven called. Percy let go of Raven's hand, which she hadn't even realized he was still holding and handed Raven her bag. Annabeth and Grover jogged over. Annabeth hugged Raven.

"Thank the gods you're okay!" She said.

"We thought you went to Hades the hard way." Grover sighed.

"No...We're fine..." Raven said, she remembered the feeling of Percy's arms around her, trying protecting her as they fell. She felt sparks at her spine.

"We can't leave you guys alone for five minutes," Annabeth said, "What happened?"

"Come on," Raven cut her off, "We shouldn't stay here...We'll explain on the way."

She turned her back on the group and started down the path. Percy and the others followed. As they walked Percy relayed the whole story, although she noticed he left out the part about trying to protect her during the fall. The group boarded the train for Denver and made their way back to their car. Raven passed out as soon as she hit the pillow.


	11. Raven 11

Annabeth had insisted on contacting Camp, although Raven had tried to convince her it wasn't a good idea. She knew Luke would be the one to pick up. But Annabeth had said she wanted to tell Chiron about Percy's conversation with the water spirit so the group made the call anyway.

And of course Luke was the one to pick up.

"Luke!" Percy called, and Annabeth started fixing her hair as soon as she saw Luke.

"Percy!" Luke grinned; Raven made a point to stay out of sight and scowled as soon as she heard Luke's voice. "Is that Annabeth? Are you guys okay?"

"Yea, we're fine." Annabeth said, "We found Raven, by the way."

"What!? Really?" Luke sounded part relieved, part excited and part nervous, "Did you send her home?"

"Well...no..." Annabeth sounded unhappy with Luke's sudden fixation on Raven, "She's with us"

"What? Why?" Luke said, "Never mind just let me talk to her."

Annabeth scowled, "Actually Luke, we made this call to talk to Chiron."

"Oh...right...He's down at the cabins right now," Luke said, "Some issues with the campers...What's that noise?"

A car had pulled up blasting hip-hop music.

"I'll take care of it," Annabeth said, "Come on, Raven."

Raven followed Annabeth outside, happy to have a reason not to listen to Luke. Annabeth started arguing with the guy in the car who reluctantly turned the volume down. They sat outside together for a minute.

"What's with guys...?" Annabeth pouted, "Why are they so thick?"

"I have no idea," Raven agreed and crossed her arms.

"And what's with you and Luke?" Annabeth said, "You say nothing happened but I'm not dumb Raven. I know when something is up with you two."

"Annabeth..."

"Don't 'Annabeth' me!" Raven could tell Annabeth was getting frustrated, he way she did when she couldn't figure out a problem, "I thought we were friends, but you don't tell me anything! What's with that? And if it involves Luke then I should know!"

"We are friends, and I want to tell you...But I can't!" Raven said, Annabeth was her best friend. Admitting she had kissed her crush sort of broke best friend code, and she didn't want to hurt her.

"Raven you can trust me!"

"I kissed Luke!"

Annabeth's eyes widened.

"It was like for two second and then he rejected me. It was a dumb crush it meant nothing!" Raven tried to convince Annabeth it wasn't a big deal, It was one sided. She and Luke weren't a thing, and never would be.

"Oh..." Annabeth said, "That's fine I guess..."

"I'm sorry. I know you like him and I wasn't thinking..." Raven said.

"No, Raven, It's fine." She said, "If you like Luke then well I guess that can't be helped."

"Really?" Raven asked. She wasn't convinced, when Rachel had liked Percy...or she guessed when Rachel would like Percy, Annabeth had gotten Jealous. Really Jealous. But yet again Annabeth would be in love with Percy. Her crush on Luke was just a crush.

"Yea..." Annabeth said, "I mean I'm surprised I'm cool with it, but I am. You said it didn't mean anything, and you're not together. So it's fine. I'm sorry I pushed you."

"Yea that's fine," She said, nodding, "Want to go see how the boys are doing?"

They made their way back to the car wash and both Grover and Percy Looked at Annabeth, probably for her outburst earier.

"What?" She asked. The guys looked at each other

"Nothing," Percy said, standing up, "Anyway Luke said my dreams were interesting. He said maybe..."

"Maybe what?" Raven asked.

"He said maybe it wasn't Hades who stole the Master bolt. Maybe it was someone else."

"Maybe..." Raven said. Interesting...Before in the book Luke had insisted it had to be Hades. Now that he had changed the advice was useful. "Come on, I'm hungry. We should get dinner."

The rest of the group nodded in agreement. Raven wasn't even hungry but she was ready to meet Ares. That was the real reason she came on the quest anyway. She wanted to talk to the War god and hopefully get him to tell her who gave him the bolt. She wasn't sure how she would do that but she had to try.

A few minutes later, Raven and her group were sitting at a booth in a gleaming chrome diner.

Finally the waitress came over. She raised her eyebrow skeptically. "Well?"

Percy said, "We, um, want to order dinner."

"You kids have money to pay for it?"

Raven stared out the window, and turned to her friend; she slapped two twenties down on the counter and said she'd be outside. "Just order me a cheeseburger. I have someone I have to meet."

She sat on the front steps of the dinner and felt the ground rumble. When Ares showed up on his bike, Raven was half scared and half angry. She tried to tell herself the anger was caused by the war god but it didn't make it feel less real. She forced herself to stay calm. The war god got off his bike and looked at Raven. Raven gave a smile which seemed to confuse Ares.

She rose and gave a small bow, "Lord Ares," She said, "You have a minute?"

"Not now kid," the war god growled, "I have bigger fish to fry."

"You do," Raven agreed, "But first you must hear me: You took something that does not belong to you."

This seemed to confuse Ares further.

"Do not fear. I have no intention of stopping you, or giving you away." She hummed. "I am completely content with what you are to do next. After all, who am I, a mortal girl, to tell an all-powerful god what to do?"

Ares seemed to like the 'All-powerful god' part. "I'm listening."

"But I do want information from you..." Raven said, "Who was the scumbag demigod who gave you the bolt?"

"That?" Ares snarled, "That's all you want to know?"

"That's all," Raven nodded, "And in return, I will make sure no one in Olympus knows you ever had the master bolt. All you have to do is tell me who gave you the bolt and you will have your war among the Olympians"

Ares grinned, Raven could tell he liked Raven's offer.

"I don't know the kids name..." Ares said, "He was one of that rotten Athena's children..."

"A son of Athena..." Raven's mind buzzed.

"Yea, god for nothing know it all, tried to fight me," Ares chuckled, "Obviously I took the kid down, but then he gave me an offer. Spare him and take the bolt. Start a war among the Olympians."

"Ah," Raven nodded, "And how could one refuse?"

"Exactly," Ares nodded, "Smart girl."

Raven gave another bow. "Thank you lord Ares. You have been rather helpful."

"Yea," Ares grinned, "I have."

"And now you have bigger fish to fry, Correct?" Raven smiled and gestured to the doorway.

"Right." He marched inside and sat down with the rest of her group. She sat down on the front steps and waited for Ares to finish his conversation with Percy and the others. For an immortal god, Ares wasn't very smart. Now she just had to think of which of Annabeth's brothers was working for Kronus.

She didn't like the thought of an Athena kid working for Kronus, not just because an Athena kid would be smarter and therefore more dangerous but because she had saved Luke so Annabeth wouldn't get hurt. Now one of her brothers had turned meaning she had save Luke for nothing. Annabeth would still feel betrayed. Ares finished his conversation and walked out and Raven bowed again as he disappeared.

Annabeth, Percy and Grover came out and looked at Raven.

"What did Ares say to you?" Percy asked.

Raven hummed, "Nothing much...he just gave me some helpful information."

"That girl has a way of respecting the gods," Grover mumbled, "No matter what they're like."

"All the gods are to her feared and respected," Raven said, "it is not my place to do anything but. I'll leave that to Percy."

The trip to the water park went exactly as Raven imagined. Complete with Annabeth screaming at the metallic spiders. Raven still felt weird in her stomach when Annabeth had gone on the love ride together. Once upon a time Annabeth and Percy were her OTP. Now? She wasn't sure what she was feeling but she knew she wasn't so happy about seeing Percy with Annabeth anymore. Watching Annabeth and Percy mutter and blush about going on a love ride together to fetch a shield. It made her almost...

Almost angry.

When we made it back to the diner Ares grinned as Raven handed him his shield.

"Ah good girl," Ares grinned, "I like this one."

"You knew it was a trap," Percy snapped.

"Bet that crippled black-smith was surprised when he netted a couple of stupid kids. You looked good on TV."

"I bet they did," Raven muttered under her breath. For some reason she was peeved at Annabeth and Percy. And having the war god around wasn't helping her mood. Ares grabbed his shield and spun it in the air like pizza dough. It changed form, melting into a bulletproof vest. He slung it across his back.

"See that truck over there?" He pointed to an eighteen-wheeler parked across the street from the diner. "That's your ride. Take you straight to L.A., with one stop in Vegas."

"You-"

"Thank you lord Ares..." Raven cut Percy off. He handed Raven a bag to Raven and gave her a knowing look. She stuffed the bag in her backpack.

"See," Ares said, smacking Raven so hard on the back that she saw stars, which made Percy look about ready to bite the god's head off, which made Raven's pulse race, "This girl knows respect. You three might want to learn a thing or two."

"Oh and punk," Ares smirked, "I owe you some news about your mother. She's not dead."

Percy's eyes widened, shocked and vulnerable. Like he wanted it to be true but he was afraid to hope. Raven would be feeling the same if her sister had been taken. Although she wasn't even sure she had a sister anymore, which sent a fresh shot of sorrow through her body. She wasn't sure she had a family. Just this. Just monsters and fighting and gods and half-bloods. This is what she had wished for.

"What do you mean?" Percy growled.

"I mean she was taken away from the Minotaur before she could die. She was turned into a shower of gold, right? That's metamorphosis. Not death. She's being kept."

"Kept. Why?"

"You need to study war, punk. Hostages. You take somebody to control somebody else."

"Nobody's controlling me."

Ares laughed. "Oh yeah? See you around, kid."

Percy balled up my fists in frustration. "You're pretty smug, Lord Ares, for a guy who runs from Cupid statues."

"Percy enough." Raven growled, it would only be bad for Percy to make a enemy of the war god. She knew that, and although she had a feeling even she couldn't change that she figured she could soften it a bit.

. "We'll meet again, Percy Jackson. Next time you're in a fight, watch your back." Ares revved his Harley, then roared off down Delancey Street.

Percy growled.

"That wasn't smart Percy," Annabeth said Raven nodded.

"I don't care,"

"You should." Raven said.

"Yea well, what about you! That guy was a creep and you just enabled him," Percy snapped back.

"Gods like that should be feared, Percy," Raven snapped back, "Respect is a pretty good way to deal with that!"

"So you just let people you're afraid of walk all over you?"

"Better than running my mouth without thinking!"

Raven growled. It was true, she feared the war god. He wasn't bright or strategic, but he was cruel and he made her angry...and Raven didn't get angry. He radiated power in a way that made her feel small. The way a war god should be. less than a year ago she was in school reading, her biggest concern was passing finals. Now she was here, so excuse her for being afraid.

"Look," Raven mutter, "I got what I needed from this quest. I should...I should just go."

Percy frowned, "Raven I-..."

"Forget about it Percy..." Raven muttered, "Just remember not to go into the lotus casino and take off the flying shoes before you enter the underworld, I'm not sure if they're still cursed to drag you into Tartarus or not."

Grover went bug-eyed and kicked the shoes off. She tossed her backpack to Annabeth.

"Here," She said, "Eos usually stocks that with whatever she thinks I need so..."

"Eos? Like dawn goddess Eos?" Annabeth looked at Raven in disbelief.

"My patron goddess," Raven shrugged.

"Anyway take that stuff and finish your quest without me," Raven said, "But if you loss that bag I will personally kill you."

She began to walk away, back to the east and to camp half blood. She figured she'd have to go back and face Luke and figure out which of the Athena kids betrayed the camp. Annabeth gave Percy a glare and grabbed Raven's shoulder.

"Raven look, Percy's an idiot, but we can't finish this quest without you." Raven wanted to say 'actually I know for a fact you can...' but she didn't. Annabeth pressed her bag back into Raven's hands "So come on before the zoo express takes off."

Annabeth smiled a little and Raven nodded. They had started this quest together they would end it that way. "Come on lets go."


	12. Raven 12

**Author's note: Sorry this took so long I spent literally like two day freaking out about how I was going to do this chapter. Anyway hope you like it and a slight warning about a reference to abuse in this chapter. :P Also to the person who left the review about Raven ruining her OTP and Annabeth falling into tartarus: well... *evil laughter* you shall see what happens my dears... But seriously no worries about Raven stealing Percy. Percbeth is totally this ship in this Fanfiction, don't worry.**

The trailer was gross and hot and smelled bad, but Raven didn't care about any of that. Not when she had seen the animals. Raven had always cared about the environment and animals and this kind of thing made her stomach turn and knot up. She and Grover looked appalled at the scene. Raven wanted to cry.

"Why would..." She growled, "How could someone do this...? This is so messed up!"

Annabeth put a hand on her shoulder, "Sh, keep your voice down."

Grover seemed just as mad at Raven but then the engine burst to life forcing the four of them to sit. Grover sat and talked to the animals and Raven tentatively pet the zebra's mane through the bars of the car, making shushing noises and giving it sympathetic pats. Annabeth and Percy refilled their water and changed their food.

Annabeth and Percy talked in the corner about the incident at the water park and raven made herself comfortable with the zebra, which had warmed up to her and lean against the bars so raven could rest her head on its fur.

They were all talking about Thalia and Luke and Annabeth and their past. Raven felt like a trespasser. She kept her mouth shut. She felt like she didn't belong in the conversation. Which she didn't. This wasn't supposed to happen with her here in the first place. She was_ literally_ not supposed to be here.

She tried to remember why she made this stupid wish. Before she had too much time to think about it however she had fallen asleep. She closed her eyes and she was 15 again. It was the day before she had made her wish. Her sister had just gotten back from college.

Kelly was waiting for her at home after school.

Kelly was really tall and skinny and had really long light cinnamon colored hair, it was so wonderful to see her face again. Even if it was a dream. She missed her sister so much. Kelly was the only person in her family she truly loved. Raven could tell from the gleam in her eyes she was planning something. She remembered this conversation perfectly. She had replayed it thousands of times in her mind.

"Hey," Kelly said, "Welcome home."

Raven slumped over and rested her head on Kelly's shoulder and let out a huge groan.

"So I see schools going well."

"Its sooooo boring." Raven groaned.

"Yea it tends to be like that,"

"How was College," Raven asked.

Kelly shrugged. "Let's forget school and go do something cool!"

"Okay I'll just put my stuff away," Raven said beginning to walk inside.

"I wouldn't go in there," Kelly warned, "just leave your stuff there."

"Why?" Raven quirked an eyebrow.

Kelly rubbed her shoulder and gave Raven a look. Instantly Raven had gotten what Kelly was saying. Colby was Kelly and Raven's big brother. Sometimes he had..._fits_, and it was just better to be out of the house when they happened.

"Oh," Raven said, "Was it bad?"

"Not that bad," Kelly she shrugged, "He'll calm down later. Let's just go out."

The dream shifted and they were at the creek down by Jimmy's World Famous Ice Cream stand. Raven felt the cold water rushing between her toes and it felt great. She had felt like a kid again. That was the best feeling. She wanted to be little and play with her brother and sister in this creek again. Kelly and Raven had ordered strawberry ice cream and Raven had rested her head on her sister's shoulder. God she missed her sister.

"Raven," the voice was female but not her sister's. She lifted her head. Instead of her sister the woman next to her had short, curly black hair like Raven's, She wore a red jacket, black jeans, black boots, and carried a whip. She looked a lot like Raven. Raven rubbed her eyes. No...This woman didn't look so much like Raven as she did Raven's mother. Her old mother from her old life. The bitter woman who had resented having a family. Who argued with her father and allowed her son to turn violent. The woman who had always resented Raven and her sister. Raven hated her mother.

Her mouth felt dry, Raven got why this woman looked so much like her old mom. This was Nemesis. Her new mother who took the form of whomever you wanted revenge on most. Raven swallowed. "Mom?"

The goddess nodded.

"I, um," Raven had no idea what to say. Was this even real? Was this still a dream?

"I am really here, to really talk to you Raven," Nemesis answered as if reading her daughter's mind. "You have had tremendous luck my daughter, it is natural some bad will come your way. It is the balance that both you and I represent."

Raven nodded. That made sense to her. She understood balance, she'd struck luck with her wish and made friends for the first time. In exchange she had given up her sister and her peaceful life. It was sad and created knots in Raven's stomach but it was in fact fair. An old life with a family for a new one with friends.

"This quest you are on...do you know what you are doing" Nemesis mused.

"We're going to the underworld to-"

"You're quest does not end with the underworld my daughter," Nemesis interrupted, "You are to be the balance of these demigods lives. Justice where it is due and punishment when it is required. There is a thin line between too much luck and not enough. Are you sure you have what it takes to harness what it really means to be my daughter?"

The way she asked that made Raven's stomach knot up. Nemesis didn't truly believe in her. She clenched her fists. She was so done with being polite to the gods. She rose her feet splashing in the creek water turning to face her mother.

"Listen mom!" Raven said, "I'm a daughter of Nemesis and I have what it takes to do this. And I don't need you telling me I can't!"

Nemesis smiled.

"I believe in you, Raven," She said with a bit more confidence, "Make me proud."

"I will."

Raven was shook awake on the truck. She wasn't sure was time it was but the faint glow from Percy's sword shown a faint gold light on her face. "Raven...Raven wake up..."

"Percy?" Raven rubbed her eyes, "What is it?"

"Sorry," he said "Hey look I'm sorry I snapped at you, okay? I mean about Ares, he was being a jerk and I was angry and I saw you get scared and I don't know..."

"Oh," Raven said, a small smile on her lips, "It's no big deal I guess..."

Raven felt her cheeks grow hot. That was sweet of Percy... She shook her head remembering Percy and Annabeth at the water park. She felt her chest throb. Percy smiled a little shifting to sit next to Raven in the darkness, his shoulder pressed up against hers. Raven hoped Percy couldn't see how red her cheeks in the low light cast from his sword. But before she knew it she heard Percy snoring and she could tell he had fallen asleep.

When Raven woke Annabeth was shaking her and Percy. She looked confused and maybe a little annoyed which confused Rave before she realized she was snuggled up with Percy, her head on his shoulder and his arm around her. She jumped a little in embarrassment and which woke Percy up.

"Come on," Annabeth said, looking annoyed at Percy, "We got to hide."

The four of them were forced to hide as one of the workers checked on the animals. Raven, Grover and Percy hide in the back and hoped not to attract any attention as Annabeth snapped on her hat and went invisible. Raven was completely disgusted by these guys. They treated the animals like trash. It made her sick. Raven loved animals, she had tons of animals at home and she had been a horseback rider for most of her life. She couldn't bear to see these people mistreat these creatures. The worker left the truck as Annabeth started knocking on the side. Annabeth turned visible.

"Percy free them," Raven urged. Percy nodded and slashed the Zebra's cage open with riptide. The zebra turned bowed to Percy and nuzzled Raven. Grover smiled a little at the animal and said something to it in a series of goat bleats. Then he held up his hands and said something to the zebra, something like a blessing. And the animal ran off.

The workers were so surprised they nearly fell over and ran after it, with a few policemen running after them, shouting, "Hey! You need a permit for that!"

"Now would be a good time to leave," Annabeth said.

"The other animals first," Grover said. Raven and Percy cut the locks with their swords. Grover raised his hands and spoke the same goat-blessing he'd used for the zebra.

"Good luck," Percy told the animals.

The antelope and the lion burst out of their cages and went off together into the streets.

Some tourists screamed. Most just backed off and took pictures, probably thinking it was some kind of stunt by one of the casinos

"They'll be okay, right?" Raven asked looking at Grover, ""You placed a satyr's sanctuary on them?"

Grover nodded, although he looked surprised Raven knew about that.

"What's that?" Percy asked

"It's like a blessing. They'll reach the wild safely," he said. "They'll find water, food, shade, whatever they need until they find a safe place to live."

"Why can't you place a blessing like that on us?"

"It only works on wild animals."

"So it would only affect Percy," Annabeth reasoned.

"Hey!" Percy protested.

"Kidding," she said. "Come on. Let's get out of this filthy truck."

Their teasing each other made Raven's stomach knot.

The four of them stumbled out and began to walk. No one paid attention to the four homeless looking kids when there was a lion and a zebra running around. They stumbled around mystified by the lights and the bunches of people walking around. It wasn't long before the Four of them made a wrong turn and ended up at the lotus casino.

Raven stared at it. Part of her knew that she was supposed to make sure the four of them avoided this place, and part of her couldn't stop focusing on the fact that somewhere in that place the di Angelo siblings were playing some stupid games. Which made her remember her nightmares of the dark haired boy she'd assumed was Nico. She had always imagined Nico in her mind but seeing him in her dreams. She'd never imagined Nico so...sad. She wanted to know what was so important about that boy that she had dreamed about him.

"Hey, kids. You look tired. You want to come in and sit down? "The doorman asked. That snapped her out of it.

"No thanks," Raven said quickly, "We're good. Come on guys."

The rest of her group looked tired but she knew she couldn't afford to waste time here. They could rest somewhere else. She still wanted to find the di Angelo's but she knew it could wait. She was curious but she knew it was better to wait. And when the time came, she would help Nico to be happy, she promised him that. Even if he didn't know it yet.

"Raven it couldn't hurt for just a few minutes..." Percy said.

"Don't you listen at all Percy?" Raven said, "I told you not to stay here. It's a trap. It feels like a few minutes but in reality its days."

Raven turned and walked the other way, with the rest of her group in toe. Percy caught up and walked beside her.

"It's creepy how you know these things." He said

"Hm," Raven mused, most of the time she liked to feel distant and mysterious, flaunt her knowledge, even if she was just a dorky teenage girl. She'd never been smart so knowing the future. That was a big step up. "Does that bother you? Am I too creepy?"

Percy thought about it for a moment.

"Nah," He decided, "It's kind of what makes you, you. I like it."

Raven felt her cheeks flush. Now Percy hadn't said he liked her, but he said he liked what made her. She tried not to think too hard about it. Raven hailed a taxi and sat next to Annabeth. "Los Angeles please."

The cabbie chewed his cigar and sized the four of them up. "That's three hundred miles. For that, you got to pay up front."

Raven rifled through her bag. Her clothes, Percy Jackson books, her book of prophecies, bag from Ares, a few golden drachmas, Artemis, and there: Cash. Of course as always Eos had stocked it with cash. She wondered where she got all of it but she supposed when you're a goddess you don't have much use for mortal money. She also wondered briefly how Eos always had time to stock her bag but she supposed that Eos was only ever really busy at dawn.

She handed the guy all of the cash. He counted it.

"I can take you all the way to Rosemead..." The guy offered.

"That's fine," Raven said, she wished she had gotten the lotus cash cards...

On the road, the group had plenty of time to talk. Percy talked about his latest dream a boy she assumed was Annabeth's brother and Kronus talking in a pit, but the details were messy. He could recalled Annabeth's brother's voice although he didn't recognize it and he remembered the servant calling the monster in the pit something other than "my lord" ... some special name or title...

"The Silent One?" Annabeth suggested. "The Rich One? Both of those are nicknames for Hades."

"Maybe ..." Percy didn't sound so sure.

"Whoever it was, I don't think it was Hades. Percy you said Luke didn't think so either." Raven said. Luke knew as well as Raven who the one who had stolen the lightning bolt was. But he was smart enough not to mention Kronus. It was best for him not to mention that Kronus had tried to turn him. It would look bad and he knew Raven could handle this.

"That throne room sounds like Hades'," Grover said. "That's the way it's usually described."

Percy shook his head and looked out the window. "Something's wrong. The throne room wasn't the main part of the dream. And that voice from the pit ... I don't know. It just didn't feel like a god's voice."

Annabeth's eyes widened.

"What?" Percy asked

"Oh ... nothing. I was just-No, it has to be Hades. Maybe he sent this thief, this invisible person, to get the master bolt, and something went wrong-"

"Like what?"

"I-I don't know," she said. "But if he stole Zeus's symbol of power from Olympus, and the gods were hunting him, I mean, a lot of things could go wrong. So this thief had to hide the bolt, or he lost it somehow. Anyway, he failed to bring it to Hades. That's what the voice said in your dream, right? The guy failed. That would explain what the Furies were searching for when they came after us on the bus. Maybe they thought we had retrieved the bolt."

"But if I'd already retrieved the bolt," I said, "why would I be traveling to the Underworld?"

"To threaten Hades," Grover suggested. "To bribe or blackmail him into getting your mom back."

Percy whistled. "You have evil thoughts for a goat."

"Why, thank you."

"Interesting ideas..." Raven mused and stared out the window.

The three of them fell silent and looked at Raven.

"What?"

'Nothing..." Annabeth said, she looked pale and Raven could tell she had figured out who the voice in the pit was. She didn't want to admit it to herself but Annabeth was too smart not to have figured it out.

"You have an idea what might be in that pit, don't you?" Percy asked her, noticing her demeanor. "I mean, if it isn't Hades?"

"Percy ... let's not talk about it. Because if it isn't Hades ... No. It has to be Hades."

The rest of the ride was silent until they pulled up at 8817 Klingerman St Rosemead, California. It was dark and cloudy out as they put their stuff down on a picnic table in a park and sat down on the wooden benches. The air was hot and sticky.

"God we're never going to get there..." Percy groaned.

"Hey look on the bright side Percy," Raven smile trying to console her friend.

"What would that be?"

Raven thought for a moment.

"Well we're actually making good time compared to if we had gone into the lotus casino...Were really close to Los Angeles, and in a day or two we'll get your mom back."

"How do you know that?" Percy asked Stretching in his seat, she could tell he was tired and ready to get this quest over with. After all they had skipped the lotus casino meaning Percy and the rest of them hadn't showered or eaten or relaxed in a few days.

"I just do Percy," Raven smiled, "you can't give up. We're going to find her. I know these things."

Percy gave her a little smile. "Thanks..."

"Great, but what now? I'm tired and hungry..." Annabeth frowned. Her blond hair which still had a nice curl to it swayed in the breeze, which was really pretty even if she hadn't showered in a few days. Raven couldn't help but feel jealous. No wonder Percy would date her. She'd known Annabeth for nearly a year, and she was really an amazing person.

"Annabeth's right, I'm starving," Grover complained. Raven rifled through her Backpack and pulled out Ares's Oreo cookies and placed them on the picnic table. The group munch on them until they were gone. Afterwards Percy and Grover fell asleep right on the picnic table. Annabeth had her head down. Raven couldn't sleep. She walked off and sat on the swings in the park kicking her leg slightly.

She stared up at the sky. It was too cloudy to see the stars and she wondered if you could even see the stars this close to Los Angeles. She swung back and forth for a while. She couldn't sleep. She was too close to the underworld. Her friends would finish their first quests although according to her mom her own quest had only just begun. She thought about her dream. Her last day in her old life. How totally naive she was. She had been so overactive and self-conscious she had been. Now she knew what she had wanted to be. She had wanted to be brave and strong and helpful. She wanted to go on quests and help everyone, and save people. She wanted to be the bringer of hope and balance. To make Nemesis and Eos proud, like she had promised.

Raven nearly jumped out of her skin when Annabeth came up behind her.

"Hey," Annabeth said in a hushed whisper.

"Annabeth...I thought you were asleep..." She let out a sigh.

"No I couldn't sleep," Annabeth took a seat on the swing next to Raven.

"We're really close to finishing the quest aren't we," Annabeth said wistfully.

"Yea we are," Raven said, happily.

"We couldn't have done it without you, Raven..." Annabeth said and smiled a little.

"Okay I happen to know that isn't true," Raven said, but she smiled good-naturedly.

The two of them sat in silence for a little while. They used to do that a lot. Just sit and read together and not talk for a long time. Now the silence was eating at them. Annabeth was the first to break it.

"So," Annabeth said slowly, "So you a Percy...You two aren't like..."

Raven remembered Annabeth waking Raven and Percy up on the truck and looking confused and Annoyed. The way Raven and Percy had been...well Raven could imagine what it looked like.

"No," Raven said quickly, "No, no way. No."

"Oh," Annabeth nodded, "Okay."

Annabeth tried to hide it but she looked relieved. Thinking about it Raven wondered if she would completely mind if she and Percy were you know...like...she couldn't wrap her mind around it enough to actually think it. Percy had been her hero for years, she had admired him and thought he was funny and cute. But she couldn't imagine him with anyone but Annabeth. That was her OTP, wasn't it? But the more she thought about it the more she wondered: Could they be a thing? Did she like Percy?

It wasn't like it mattered anyway. There was no way she could be with Percy at Annabeth's expense. No matter how she felt Percy belonged with Annabeth. So how she felt didn't really matter. She sat on the swing.

"We should sleep," Raven said, "Take a cue from the guys?"

Annabeth nodded, and they walked back over to the picnic table and put their heads down for a few minutes.


	13. Annabeth 13

Annabeth was strangely relieved that Raven had said her and Percy weren't together. Of course they weren't together. When would they have possibly found time to get together? It was silly. Besides it wasn't like it mattered if her best friend got together with Percy. Why would she care? It wasn't like she was jealous or anything. That would be ridiculous. Percy was annoying and dumb and drooled in his sleep. Besides that he was a son of Poseidon. Athena and Poseidon never got along.

Annabeth woke up last. Raven was packing the last of her things in her backpack and looked up at Annabeth woke up. "Oh good you're up!"

Annabeth looked around, it was just starting to get light out so the park was still empty.

"Where are Grover and Percy?" Annabeth asked looking around.

Raven waved her hand, "I sent them off to get some food from 7-eleven," She said, "I needed to wait for you to wake up, we need a plan to get out to Los Angeles."

"Don't you usually have a plan for this kind of thing?" Annabeth asked.

"Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena are you seriously shying away from a chance to come up with a plan? I am appalled," Raven said, faking disgust, "But seriously we need a plan, we were supposed to get cash cards from the lotus casino and ride that taxi all the way to Los Angeles."

"Um okay?" Annabeth still found it weird how Raven just knew things, "a bus? Do you have any money?"

"Not now," Raven shook her head, "I gave the last of what I had to the boys to get food and its dawn so I won't get anything in my bag until midday."

Annabeth groaned, "Why?"

"Eos, goddess of the dawn? She's busy," Raven pointed at the sunrise. Annabeth still couldn't get over the fact that Raven had a patron goddess. It was like having an immortal sponsor. From what she'd seen Eos had been pretty helpful.

"Well hitchhiking can be dangerous but I'm pretty sure we can overpower any mortals who try to attack us," Annabeth said

"Yea but Percy's known fugitive so cops will be waiting for us in Los Angeles if any mortals realize it's him. They might not have pictures but four kids by our description dirty hitchhiking on the highway is going to look suspicious,"

"Hmmm," Annabeth was good at plans, she just had to think she stood up and paced, which always helped her think a little. "How far would it be to just walk?"

Raven's hand went to her pocket then seemed to remember something and slumped, "I don't know, a few hours without rest."

Annabeth would be okay with that, they had time but if they could think of something better that would be preferable. Raven giggled to herself, "We could steal bikes, Percy's already a fugitive."

"We're not going to steal bikes," Annabeth said. It wasn't a bad idea. Just illegal.

"I'm stumped," Raven said, flopping back on the table.

"We're back!" Annabeth turned and saw Grover and Percy walking up the road with a grocery bag in their hands. Percy tossed her a Hostess Apple Pie in a box, "Eat up."

Annabeth slumped on the table and opened the box, "I don't suppose you guys have any ideas on how to get to Los Angeles." She said, brushing her tangled blond hair from her face.

Grover and Percy looked at each other.

"Actually yea," Percy said popping open an apple pie for himself.

Annabeth blinked. Percy had _not _just thought of a plan before her, had he?

"What?" Raven said excitedly.

"Oh man," Grover said, "Percy thought of everything. We used the change from Raven at this arcade and bet this kid we could beat him at Space Invaders. We got like ten dollars in quarters, so we continued doing that, look."

Percy held up a plastic bag full of quarters.

"Haha! Nice!" Raven high fived Percy.

Annabeth shook her head.

The quarters just barely got them a bus ticket to Los Angeles. It was sunset before the bus pulled up at Santa Monica pier. It was pretty enough but it smelled terrible. Annabeth looked around. Raven blow her jet black hair from her face.

"Now what?" Annabeth asked.

Percy stared out at the ocean. She could tell he was thinking hard. She imagined she got that look on her face when she was trying to solve a problem in her head. Only she could tell he was thinking about something much bigger than a problem.

Percy stepped out into the surf.

"Percy what-" Raven put a hand on Annabeth's chest and put her finger to her lips and winked. Annabeth frowned but didn't saw more. He disappeared under the water. Raven frowned and flopped down on the sound. Grover and Annabeth did the same as they waited for Percy. Raven hummed some song Annabeth had never heard before and Grover picked up the tone on his raid pipes as they sat on the beach and waited for Percy.

When Percy finally came back he was dry which was still a little weird to Annabeth. He showed them the Pearls the Nereid had given him. Annabeth didn't like the sound of it. Everything came at a price when you were a demigod.

Annabeth grimaced. "No gift comes without a price."

"They were free," Percy insisted.

Raven shook her head, "Take it from a daughter of the Revenge Goddess. Everything comes at a price, Percy."

"Yeah, 'there is no such thing as a free lunch.' That's an ancient Greek saying that translated pretty well into American. There will be a price. You wait." Annabeth agreed. Percy frowned.

With the rest of Percy's quarters the group caught a bus into West Hollywood. Percy tried showing the bus driver the address but he had never heard of it before. Then the guy started to recognize Percy so Annabeth decided that it was best for them to get off at the next stop. Nobody argued.

The rest of the journey was a blast. Wandering around looking for this recording studio, and ducking into alley ways to avoid cops. Annabeth was having so much fun. At one point Percy stopped to watch an interview of this step dad, which only made him look ready to punch a brick wall.

When it got dark out Annabeth was officially miserable. She'd done a lot of traveling with Luke and Thalia but that seemed so long ago, she was so used to being at camp half blood. She knew that place like the back of her hand. Los Angeles was so chaotic and confusing and scary people started to pop out everywhere. From the looks of it Grover and Percy agreed but Raven just followed along happily like she couldn't care less. Of course she did. She probably knew if and when they would get attacked. Annabeth wished she just knew everything like Raven did.

Out of the dark Annabeth heard a voice. It was Percy who stopped, Annabeth nearly walked into him. In an instant they were surrounded. Annabeth looked around at the kids in expensive outfits. Raven was nowhere to be seen.

The leader kid stepped forward but before he could open his mouth he crumpled to the ground. Raven had Artemis in Dagger form, which through the Mist probably looked like a switch blade.

"Alright," She said in a voice that was overly confident even for Raven, "You kiddos have two seconds to get outta here before me and my friends take you out. Scat."

She looked at Annabeth and instantly she got the cue. She pulled her Dagger and pointed it at the kids forcing herself to look brave. Percy did the same. The kids backed off looking uncertain and ran off. Raven sheathed Artemis and brushed herself off.

"Well, that was fun," She said. Percy laughed nervously.

"Raven that was kind of freaking awesome," He said.

Annabeth frowned. That shouldn't have annoyed her, but it did.

"It was nothing," Raven blushed, "I just hit the guy with the hilt of my dagger, no big deal. And now we don't have to duck into anyplace sketchy running away from these guys."

"Come on," Annabeth urged, "We should keep going."

After that the group found the studio no problem. Annabeth stared up at the sign for a moment. They had finally made it. Annabeth's first quest was almost over.

"This is it," She murmured.

"Doesn't have to be. We could go back and fight Procrustes." Raven offered.

"Pass," Grover and Annabeth said in unison. Percy raised an eyebrow confused.

Raven pushed her way in no problem. Annabeth and the others had no choice but to follow. She walked right up to the desk with the same confidence she had with the gang outside. Annabeth wished she had that kind of confidence right now. Raven smiled and brushed her hair from her face.

" ," She said, to the guy at the counter. Annabeth looked around at the people seated around her in the lobby. The man at the counter looked up at her curiously, "We would like to go to the underworld, sir. Please and thank you."

"Well that's refreshing," Charon said. Annabeth stared at the ferry man of the dead.

"I know right, all that moaning about 'there must be a mistake," Raven sympathized, "It can be hard on a working man."

"How did you die then?" Charon raised an eyebrow.

"Suicide," Raven pointed to herself.

She pointed at Grover, "Break in."

She pointed at Percy, "Drowned in a bathtub."

She pointed at Annabeth, "Air dryer accident."

Annabeth nudged Raven in the ribs.

"I don't suppose you have coins for passage. Normally, with adults, you see, I could charge your American Express, or add the ferry price to your last cable bill. But with children ... alas, you never die prepared. Suppose you'll have to take a seat for a few centuries."

"We have payment," Rave slapped a few coins on the desk. They glittered in the light and Annabeth could tell they were drachma.

"Eos come off duty?" Annabeth whispered to Raven. She nodded.

"Real drachma..." Charon's fingers hovered over them. He scooped them up without another question. Annabeth let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. The group pushed through the crowd of waiting spirits, who started grabbing at their clothes like the wind, their voices whispering things Annabeth couldn't make out. Charon shoved them out of the way, grumbling, "Freeloaders."

Annabeth and the others loaded into an elevator and rode it down. Annabeth felt like the walls were going to cave in on her. She was really entering the realm of the dead. She gulped.

"What happens to the spirits waiting in the lobby?" Annabeth asked.

"Nothing," Charon said.

"For how long?"

"Forever, or until I'm feeling generous."

"Oh," she said. "That's ... fair."

Charon raised an eyebrow. "Whoever said death was fair, young miss?" Annabeth felt Percy squeeze her shoulder reassuringly which sent weird chills through her body. She hoped her cheeks didn't look as flushed as they felt. She felt dizzy feeling, it took her a second to realize that wasn't Percy's fault. It was because they weren't going down anymore, they were going forward. The air turned misty. Spirits around them started changing shape. Their modern clothes flickered, turning into gray hooded robes. The floor of the elevator began swaying  
When Annabeth looked down they were no longer in an elevator. They were on a boat. Raven was sitting and looking over the edge at the river Styx, looking like she wanted to touch it for kicks. Annabeth pulled her away knowing that was totally something Raven would do. She looked into the water.

"The river Styx," She murmured, "It's so..."

"Polluted," Charon said. "For thousands of years, you humans have been throwing in everything as you come across-hopes, dreams, wishes that never came true. Irresponsible waste management, if you ask me."

Percy and Grover looked around uncomfortably. Annabeth started to feel herself panic. What was she doing here? With all these dead people. She wasn't supposed to be here. She did the only thing she could think of. She grabbed Percy's hand. This would have embarrassed her but she needed to feel someone else. Someone living. Percy grabbed onto her hand too.

The shoreline of the Underworld came into view. Craggy rocks and black volcanic sand stretched inland about a hundred yards to the base of a high stone wall, which marched off in either direction as far as we could see. A sound came from somewhere nearby in the green gloom, echoing off the stones-the howl of a large animal.

"Old Three-Face is hungry," Charon said. His smile turned skeletal in the greenish light.

Annabeth tried not to look as panicked as she felt.

The bottom of our boat slid onto the black sand. The dead began to disembark. A woman holding a little girl's hand. An old man and an old woman hobbling along arm in arm. A boy no older than Annabeth was, shuffling silently along in his gray robe. Annabeth and Percy let go of each other's hands as the group shuffled off the boat as well. Charon pushed off wordlessly.

Annabeth could shake the growing feeling of dread in her stomach.


	14. Annabeth 14

**Authors note: Hey guys! Guys what! I finally reached over 1,000 views on this fan fiction. Woo! I'm actually not sure if that means Jack or not but I like to think it does. so woo! Anyway sorry this chapter is so short! :/ Thanks for reading love you guys!**

Annabeth wasn't really sure exactly what she was expecting. She had read plenty about the underworld and Hades realm but she wasn't expecting this. The passage into the underworld looked kind of like...an airport. She looked around not sure what to think. There were three separate entrances. Annabeth could hear the howls of Cerberus getting louder. It made her heart thump in her chest.

"What do you figure?" Annabeth heard Percy ask.

"The fast line must go straight to the Asphodel Fields," she said. "No contest. They don't want to risk judgment from the court, because it might go against them."

"There's a court for dead people?"

"Yeah. Three judges. They switch around who sits on the bench. King Minos, Thomas Jefferson, Shakespeare-people like that. Sometimes they look at a life and decide that person needs a special reward-the Fields of Elysium. Sometimes they decide on punishment. But most people, well, they just lived. Nothing special, good or bad. So they go to the Asphodel Fields."

"And do what?"

Grover said, "Imagine standing in a wheat field in Kansas. Forever."

"Less harsh than then going to the fields of punishment though," Raven noted, pointing off in the direction of the fields of punishment.

A couple of black-robbed ghouls had pulled aside one spirit and were frisking him at the security desk. The face of the dead man looked vaguely familiar.

"He's that preacher who made the news, remember?" Grover asked.

"Oh, yeah." Percy said. Annabeth didn't recognize him. They didn't have TV back at camp.

"He televangelist from upstate New York who raised millions of dollars for orphanages and then got caught spending the money on stuff for his mansion. He died in a police chase when his 'Lamborghini for the Lord' went off a cliff" Raven explained.

"What're they doing to him?" Percy asked.

"Special punishment from Hades," Grover guessed. "The really bad people get his personal attention as soon as they arrive. The Fur-the Kindly Ones will set up an eternal torture for him."

Annabeth shuddered.

"But if he's a preacher," Percy said, "and he believes in a different hell..."

Grover shrugged. "Who says he's seeing this place the way we're seeing it? Humans see what they want to see. You're very stubborn- um, persistent, that way."

"Come on guys we should go," Raven said.

The howls of that three headed dog had gotten so loud that it shook the ground beneath Annabeth's feet. She had no idea where it was coming from. When Annabeth did see it, it was only fifty feet in front of her. The green mist shimmered showing just the outline of an enormous shadowy monster. She hadn't seen it before because it was half transparent, like the dead. Until it moved, it blended with whatever was behind it. Only its eyes and teeth looked solid. And it was staring straight at them.

Annabeth could hear Percy next to her, "He's a Rottweiler." Annabeth couldn't figure out how that mattered but apparently it did to Percy.

Annabeth needed to think of a plan. Which she would if her whole body wasn't shaking. _Come on.._.She thought, _Pull herself together Annabeth._ She looked at her friends. Percy and Grover looked as scared as she was. Raven was trying to look brave but Annabeth could tell she was pretty shaken too.

"I'm starting to see him better," Percy muttered. "Why is that?"

"I think ..." Annabeth moistened her lips. "I'm afraid it's because we're getting closer to being dead."

The dog's middle head craned toward them. It sniffed the air and growled. No one dared move.

"It can smell the living," Percy said. "But that's okay,"

Grover said, trembling next to me. "Because we have a plan."

"Right," Annabeth said, her voice came out small. "A plan."

Annabeth had to think. She was daughter of Athena. Plans were her thing. They moved toward the monster. The middle head snarled and barked so loud Annabeth felt her whole body shake. Raven gave up the brave act and squeaked clinging to Percy.

"Can you understand it?" He asked, wrapping an arm protectively around Raven.

"Oh yeah," he said. "I can understand it."

"What's it saying?"

"I don't think humans have a four-letter word that translates, exactly."

Percy exchanged a look with Annabeth. _Think Annabeth! A plan!_

"GROWWWLLLL!"

"Good boy?" Percy tried weakly.

Cerberus' eyes were baleful and cold, now making a new kind of growl, deeper down in his three throats.

"Um," Grover said. "Percy?"

"Yeah?"

"I just thought you'd want to know."

"Yeah?"

"Cerberus? He's saying we've got ten seconds to pray to the god of our choice. After that... well ... he's hungry."

Raven made a whimpering sound.

"Wait!" Annabeth said. She started rifling through her pack. A plan started to form in her head like puzzle pieces connecting.

"Five seconds," Grover said. "Do we run now?"

Annabeth produced a red rubber ball the size of a grapefruit. It was labeled WATERLAND, DENVER, CO. She knew it was crazy but she had to try. She forced herself to look brave. She raised the ball and marched straight up to Cerberus and shouted, "See the ball? You want the ball, Cerberus? Sit!"

That got the dog's attention. All three of his heads cocked sideways. Six nostrils dilated.

"Sit!" Annabeth demanded.

Cerberus licked his three sets of lips, shifted on his haunches, and sat, immediately crushing a dozen spirits who'd been passing underneath him in the EZ DEATH line. The spirits made muffled hisses as they dissipated, like the air let out of tires. Annabeth felt herself get a little braver. It was working.

Annabeth grinned, "Good boy!"

She threw Cerberus the ball. He caught it in his middle mouth. It was barely big enough for him to chew, and the other heads started snapping at the middle, trying to get the new toy.

"Drop it.'" Annabeth ordered.

Cerberus's heads stopped fighting and looked at her. The ball was wedged between two of his teeth like a tiny piece of gum. He made a loud, scary whimper, then dropped the ball, now slimy and bitten nearly in half, at Annabeth's feet.

"Good boy." She picked up the ball, trying to ignoring the monster spit all over it.

She turned toward her friends. "Go now. EZ DEATH line-it's faster."

"But-"

"Now.'" She ordered, in the same tone she was using on the dog.

Percy, Raven and Grover inched closer. Cerberus growled.

"Stay!" Annabeth ordered the monster. "If you want the ball, stay!"

Cerberus whimpered, but he stayed where he was.

"What about you?" Percy asked as he passed her.

"I know what I'm doing, Percy," she muttered. "At least, I'm pretty sure..."

Annabeth watched her friends pass under the monster's legs.

"Good boy," Annabeth cooed, watching her friends make it through.

She held up the tattered red ball, and came to a scary realization. If she rewarded Cerberus, there'd be nothing left for another trick. Then what. So she did the only logical thing. She threw the ball anyway. The monster's left mouth immediately snatched it up, only to be attacked by the middle head, while the right head moaned in protest. While the monster was distracted, Annabeth walked briskly under its belly and joined us at the metal detector. Her heart beat in her chest. She was so relieved she felt herself tear up.

"How did you do that?" Percy asked her, amazed.

"Obedience school," she said breathlessly, "When I was little, at my dad's house, we had a Doberman..."

"Never mind that," Grover said, tugging at Percy's shirt. "Come on!"

They were about to bolt through the EZ DEATH line when Cerberus moaned pitifully from all three mouths.

Annabeth stopped. She turned to face the dog, which had done a one-eighty to look at her. Cerberus panted expectantly, the tiny red ball in pieces in a puddle of drool at its feet. He really did remind her of her old dog.

"Good boy," Annabeth said the monster's heads turned sideways, as if worried about her, which she found oddly sweet

"I'll bring you another ball soon," Annabeth promised faintly. "Would you like that?"

The monster whimpered. You didn't need to speak dog to know Cerberus was still waiting for the ball.

"Good dog. I'll come visit you soon. I-I promise." Annabeth turned to us. "Let's go."

As soon as her three friends pushed through the metal detectors alarms started blaring. Cerberus barked. They all looked at each other and bolted. A few minutes later, they were hiding, out of breath, in the rotten trunk of an immense black tree as security ghouls scuttled past, yelling for backup from the Furies.

Grover murmured, "Well, Percy, what have we learned today?"

"That three-headed dogs prefer red rubber balls over sticks?"

"No," Grover told him. "We've learned that your plans really, really bite!"

Annabeth wasn't thinking about that though. She was too busy thinking about Cerberus. Even if he was a monster, he was an oddly sweet dog too. Even here in the Underworld, everybody -even monsters- needed a little attention once in a while. She forced the thought from her head but couldn't help but shed a tear as she listened to the mournful keening of Cerberus in the distance, longing for his new friend.


	15. Raven 15

Raven stared out over the Fields of Asphodel. She'd never seen so many in her life. It was like a vast sea of whispering people milling around in never ending quiet. It made her sad. It made her even sadder remembering that somewhere out in that sea of spirits was one of her favorite characters in the whole series, Hazel. Raven had always kind of admired Hazel. She was kind and selfless and was always thinking about the people she cared about. Besides that she was a complete sweetheart.

She forced herself to think on the mission rather than the dead. The cavern ceiling was so high above her it might've been a bank of storm clouds, except for the stalactites, which glowed faint gray and looked wickedly pointed. Dotted around the fields were several were embedded in the black grass from falling.

Annabeth, Grover, Percy and Raven tried to blend into the crowd, keeping an eye out for security ghouls. Raven couldn't help but look for the roman demigod as they passed through the crowd but she didn't see her. Eventually the dead became too hard to look at. Not scary, just sad.

They crept along, following the line of new arrivals that snaked from the main gates toward a black tented pavilion with a banner that read: JUDGMENTS FOR ELYSIUM AND ETERNAL DAMNATION

Welcome, Newly Deceased!

Out the back of the tent came two much smaller lines. To the left, spirits flanked by security ghouls were marched down a rocky path toward the Fields of Punishment, which glowed and smoked in the distance, a vast, cracked wasteland with rivers of lava that Raven knew was the river Phlegethon, and minefields and miles of barbed wire separating the different torture areas. Even from far away, I could see people being chased by hellhounds, burned at the stake, forced to run naked through cactus patches or listen to opera music. Raven could just make out a tiny hill, with the ant-size figure of Sisyphus struggling to move his boulder to the top.

The line coming from the right side of the judgment pavilion was much better. This one led down toward a small valley surrounded by walls- a gated community, which seemed to be the only happy part of the Underworld. Beyond the security gate were neighborhoods of beautiful houses from every time period in history, Roman villas and medieval castles and Victorian mansions. Silver and gold flowers bloomed on the lawns. The grass rippled in rainbow colors. Raven could hear laughter and smell barbecue cooking.

In the middle of that valley was a glittering blue lake, with three small islands like a vacation resort in the Bahamas. The Isles of the Blest, for people who had chosen to be reborn three times, and three times achieved Elysium. Raven knew some people didn't choose rebirth because they were waiting for someone they loved, but she couldn't imagine herself giving something like The Isles of the Blest up for someone she loved. Not even Percy.

Not that she loved Percy...

She shook her head.

"That's what it's all about," Annabeth said, "That's the place for heroes."

As they left the judgment pavilion and deeper into the Fields of Asphodel Raven noticed the bright blue of her sweatshirt fading into gray. The chattering around them died down. After a few miles of walking, Raven looked up and saw on the horizon was a palace of glittering black obsidian, like the knife she had given Luke. Above the parapets swirled three dark bat-like creatures: the Furies.

"I suppose it's too late to turn back," Grover said wistfully.

"We'll be okay." Percy said trying to sound reassuring but she could tell how forced it was.

"Maybe we should search some of the other places first," Grover suggested. "Like, Elysium, for instance ..."

"Come on, goat boy." Annabeth grabbed his arm. Raven envied how together Annabeth was being. Raven was calm because she knew things would be okay. She had read the books. She knew how things would end. Annabeth didn't but she was still the rock of the group. That's one of the things she had always admired about Annabeth. And why she was so perfect for Percy...

Raven waited for Grover's flying shoes to kick in, but then she remembered he had kicked them off when she had revealed that they might be cursed to drag him into Tartarus all the way back at the dinner with Ares. Percy had given him his shoes from the water park and put on his old ones.

The group continued towards the palace.

Up close, Raven saw that the engravings on the gates were scenes of death. Some were from modern times an atomic bomb exploding over a city, a trench filled with gas mask-wearing soldiers, a line of African famine victims waiting with empty bowls-but all of them looked as if they'd been etched into the bronze thousands of years ago. Inside was a garden with strange plants and jewels. In the center of the garden was an orchard of pomegranate trees, their orange blooms neon bright in the dark.

"The garden of Persephone," Annabeth said. "Keep walking."

Raven smelled the fruit, She wanted to eat one...She began to reach for one before Annabeth pulled her away. Percy pulled Grover away as well and they started back up the stair to the palace.

They walked into the Palace of Hades and Raven felt a weird shiver go through her. They passed the skeleton guards wearing army uniforms from every era and Raven suddenly felt like their non-existent eyes were following her. Percy gilded them all to the big doors at the end of the hall. Raven stared uneasy at the skeleton guards.

"You know," Grover mumbled, "I bet Hades doesn't have trouble with door-to-door salesmen."

Raven appreciated the humor but she didn't feel like laughing all of a sudden. She looked at Percy who was shouldering his bag uncomfortably.

"Hey Percy," Raven said, "Before we go in there. Check your bag."

"Why?" Percy looked confused.

"Just do it." She said

Percy let his bag slip to the floor and pulled it open. Raven and the others leaned over to look inside. Inside was a two-foot-long metal cylinder, spiked on both ends, humming with energy.

"The lightning bolt," Raven murmured.

"How?" Annabeth whispered,

"I don't know," Percy stammered, "I don't understand."

"I do," Raven said, "Now I know two seconds before we enter the lord of the dead's chamber isn't the best time to start a long and confusing story but now that we have the lightning bolt I say now's as good a time as any."

Raven's friends stared at her like she was crazy. Raven sat down on the floor as Percy zipped back up his backpack with the lightning bolt in it. The group sat on the floor and looked expectantly at Raven.

"Okay so," Raven said, "Hades didn't take the lightning bolt."

"You don't say," Percy said.

"Yea," Raven said, "Look you're going to figure this all out in I don't know a day or two and I don't really think letting you guys know this is going to affect us now so I figure I might as well tell you now. Besides I think Annabeth figured it out back in Vegas but doesn't want to admit it."

The guys looked at Annabeth.

"Anyway," Raven said, "So Hades wasn't the one who got someone to steal the lightning bolt. I mean do you really think that would benefit him? I mean, look outside, he has so many subjects. Why would he want more? I mean with the how much his kingdom has swollen in the past century alone, and all the subdivisions he's had to open? More security ghouls, Traffic problems at the judgment pavilion. Double overtime for the staff. Okay now that I'm really thinking about this why did you guys think it was Hades in the first place I mean really."

Percy and the others stared at her like she was insane.

"Right anyway," Raven said, "Here's the thing. So originally Luke was supposed to steal the bolt and the helm of darkness. That's missing too by the way. But since my first day at camp I convinced Luke not to that means it was someone else."

"That's crazy Raven," Annabeth said, "Luke would never!"

"Not anymore," Raven said, "But that means someone else did. I got information when I talked to Ares."

"Ares," Percy growled, "He stole the bolt that's why it was in the bag."

"Ehhh," Raven said, "Close but not exactly..."

The others looked at her.

"Okay guys don't flip out but Kronus kind of might be rising and trying to overthrow Olympus and he might have brainwash one of Annabeth's brothers into helping him," Raven said, "And that said brother just might have convinced Ares that a war of the gods would be good so he gave him the bolt and convinced him to frame us..."

Annabeth Percy and Grover stared at her dumbfounded.

"Raven?" Annabeth finally said, "How long have you know about this?"

Raven counted on her fingers, "Umm, since a few years. I don't know."

"And you didn't think to mention any of this earlier!" Annabeth shouted her face red.

"To be fair I've only been in this universe for a year..." Raven mumbled under her breath, "I couldn't! We had to go on this mission so I could convince Ares to tell me who Kronus's spy was and we needed to get Percy's mom back. If she died I have no idea how Percy would react and I have no idea how that would affect the future."

Annabeth looked about ready to slap Raven; Percy forced her to sit down.

"Besides," Raven said, "You're the one who wanted a quest. If I messed this up than you would never get the chance to prove yourself a hero and save Olympus."

"Okay," Annabeth said, "Fine. Let's assume you're right. Kronus is rising. You needed information from Ares. Then why did you let us travel all the way to Hades palace. Why are we here?"

"Well," Raven said, "It's probably a good idea to let Hades know we didn't steal the helm of darkness and promise to get it back for him. I mean he might be Hades and I hate him as much as the next demigod but still be respectful. I mean he is not exactly the best god to make an enemy of..."

The others grimaced.

"Come on it won't be that bad," Raven promised, although she wasn't sure of that. What was keeping Hades from assuming what he originally did? Assuming Percy was a thief. She pushed the doors open. The room was dark and cold and Raven got a sick feeling in her gut. In the middle of them room she saw god of the dead on his throne.

Hades. He was at least ten feet tall, and dressed in black silk robes and a crown of braided gold. His skin was albino white, his hair shoulder-length and jet black. He wasn't bulked up like Ares, but he radiated power. He lounged on his throne of fused human bones, looking lithe, graceful, and dangerous as a panther. Exactly as Percy had described him in the books.

"You are brave to come here, Son of Poseidon," he said in an oily voice. "After what you have done to me, very brave indeed. Or perhaps you are simply very foolish."

Raven cleared her throat.

"Um actually lord Hades," Raven said, nervously "Yeah hi, so I think there had been a bit of a mistake we're actually here to talk."

Hades did a double take at her as if she had come out of nowhere.

"Look I know you think that Percy took your helm and the bolt," She said, "And I know you think Poseidon is trying to start war. But he didn't. If you could just hear us out..."

Hades looked unimpressed. Raven was starting to get the feeling that she wasn't going to change the stubborn death god's mind. But she had to try.

"I am not here to talk to the daughter of some minor goddess, godling," Hades thundered. "I am here for the son of Poseidon."

Oh. Hell. No. Percy and Grover exchanged a worried look.

"Excuse you? Who are you calling minor!?" Raven said,

"Raven," Grover said, "I thought you said respect..."

Too late. No one insulted the minor gods with Raven around. Her mother and her patron goddess were both considered minor goddesses. That was so unfair. She would have said more but Annabeth did the smart thing and clapped a hand over Raven's mouth.

"Lord Hades," Percy said, "We've come to offer our assistance. You think I stole the bolt and your helm but I didn't. You want your helm and I want to clear my name. Let me find your helm for you."

"Lies," Hades said, "You think you're so clever. Like all the godlings."

"It's true," Percy said, "We retrieved the bolt and we're going to return your helm."

Hades looked down at Percy like he was something you might find on the bathroom floor. His nose crinkled and his eyes shone with distaste.

"And why should I believe you?" Hades scowled.

"Uh, benefit of the doubt?" Percy asked.

An idea formed in Raven head. She pulled Annabeth's hand off of her mouth.

"You already have collateral!" She said, "Percy's mother! If we return the helm you give her back."

Percy looked at Raven; she was heartbroken at the anger in his eyes. She wanted explain it would work out that way anyway. That she hadn't bargained his mother away, but now was not the time. Hades thought over the deal.

"Very well godlings," He hissed, "Return my helm by the Summer solstice or Sally Jackson stays in the underworld forever. Now leave my presence."

"Percy the pearls." Raven said. He nodded although the anger hadn't faded from his eyes.

He pulled out four pearls from his pocket and handed one to each of them. They each crushed one under their feet. For a moment nothing happened. Then the pearl fragments at her feet exploded with a burst of green light and a gust of fresh sea wind. She was encased in a milky white sphere, which was starting to float off the ground along with Grover and Annabeth's.

The spheres floated up, higher and higher and as she watched Hades' throne room disappear into the darkness Raven felt her eyes well up with tears. She curled up into a tight ball inside her bubble and forced herself not to cry.


	16. Raven 16

The coast guard picked the group up and hauled them to shore. Raven tugged the towel around her shoulders and shivered. The stumbled down the beach. Percy still wouldn't look at Raven. She knew what he was thinking: who could she be willing to trade his mom to get Hades on their side. She had said they were there to save his mom.

She didn't want to explain herself. She didn't want to hear the nasty things she knew he'd say to her if she tried to make him understand. She was only trying to help. Change the course of the books for the better. She guessed that was the burden of knowing the future. The decisions you make, although better in the long run, weren't always popular. People didn't always understand the choices you make.

Annabeth looked at Raven pitifully. Raven wasn't sure if she had understood the choice or if Raven just looked so pathetic that Annabeth didn't have the heart to be mad too. She hoped it was the former.

"What now?" Annabeth asked.

"Well I assume we find Ares and get the helm." Percy said.

"You don't have to," Raven whispered, pointing down the beach, her voice was small.

Percy and the others follower where she was pointing. There was Ares, waiting for them, in his black leather duster and his sunglasses, an aluminum baseball bat propped on his shoulder. His motorcycle rumbled beside him, its head-light turning the sand red.

"Hey, kid," Ares said, seeming genuinely pleased to see them. "You were supposed to die."

"Not quite Ares," Percy growled, "Where's the helm?"

Ares smile faded, "Getting right to the point, huh, Jackson?" From his pocket he took out a ski cap-the kind bank robbers wear-and placed it between the handlebars of his bike. Immediately, the cap transformed into an elaborate bronze war helmet. "You mean this?"

Percy's eyes glittered with anger.

"Give it to me Ares," Percy growled, "Or so help me..."

"Percy," Raven said, "Don't do anything stupid..."

"What like trading my mom away as collateral?!" He snapped back, Raven could see he was close to tears. Raven faltered and took a step back.

"Tsk tsk," Ares called, "Little mini war going on right here, eh? You going to take that Raven? Why stay with a group that doesn't even appreciate you?" Ares smirked.

Raven looked at Percy who was still glaring at her then to Annabeth who was just shaking her head at the two of them. She swallowed hard.

"Tell you what kid," Ares grinned at Raven, "I like you, so I'll make you an offer you can't refuse. Join me. All you have to do is drop your gang and we can watch Olympus go up in flames. You can do the things I can't do. Or just don't want to."

Raven knew what he was offering. Becoming his Luke. Steal the god's symbols of powers. Create more war and watch it all unfold from a safe distance. She wouldn't have to deal with Percy hating her.

She swallowed hard and stepped forward. That got the anger to drop from Percy's eyes.

"Raven?" She walked past him not bothering to look him in the eyes.

"Raven? Raven this is crazy!" She heard Annabeth call as she walked across the beach and Join Ares side. Annabeth and Percy stared at her dumbfounded. Grover nervously bleated a few times. Ares grinned at the other.

"See that Percy Jackson," Ares called, "You can't even keep your allies. There's no way to win this war."

Raven inched towards his motorcycle and touched its seat lightly. It looked like real human skin but it felt like regular leather. It sent shivers down her spine. Ares looked back at her for a second, "Careful with that sweetheart, the rides new."

But Raven was interested in the bike.

Ares continued at taunt Percy ignoring what Raven was doing. She inched closer to the handle bars running her finger along the metal gently. She drowned the sound of Percy, Annabeth, and Grover's voices. She inched closer as if in a daze.

She watched the back of Ares head cautiously.

This was crazy.

In one quick movement she dove for the helm of darkness still on the bike's handlebars. There was a moment of dazed confusion before she could hear Ares calling out angrily. She did the only thing he could think of. She slapped on the helm. In less than a second she disappeared.

What did putting on the Helm of Darkness feel like? She imagined this was what melting felt like. She felt like a liking puddle of shadow. She melted into the shade of a tree. She couldn't figure out how to make this thing work. She could see Percy and Ares yelling at each other and Percy uncapping riptide. Their voices seemed mashed together and static.

After a minute of focusing she started feeling less like a puddle and more like a girl. Moving was still hard but not impossible. She morphed in with the shadows. Slinking along shaping from one patch of darkness to another. It was hard but not impossible.

Ares growled and snapped his fingers. The sand exploded at his feet and out charged a wild boar, even larger and uglier than the one whose head hung above the door of cabin seven at Camp Half-Blood. The beast pawed the sand, glaring at Percy with beady eyes as it lowered its razor-sharp tusks and waited for the command to kill. Staticy insults were thrown.

The giant boar charged.

As the boar rushed Percy and Raven felt a knot in her stomach she willed the helm to follow her commands. Percy side-stepped and slashed upward. The boar's severed right tusk fell at his feet, while the disoriented animal charged into the sea.

Percy shouted something she couldn't hear and immediately, a wave surged up from nowhere and engulfed the boar, wrapping around it like a blanket. The beast squealed once in terror. Then it was gone, swallowed by the sea. Raven was now merged with Percy's shadow. She ripped off the helm, now in ski mask form in her hands.

Percy wasn't paying attention and knocked into her and jumped.

She showed him the ski mask in her hands, "We have the helm. Make this quick Percy."

"Are you going to fight me now, Ares!?" Percy called.

Ares sneered.

He swung the baseball bat off his shoulder. "How would you like to get smashed: classic or modern?"

I showed him my sword.

"That's cool, dead boy," he said. "Classic it is." The baseball bat changed into a huge, two-handed sword. The hilt was a large silver skull with a ruby in its mouth.

"Percy," Annabeth said. "Don't do this. He's a god."

"He's a coward," Percy said, Raven could hear the determination in his voice.

Annabeth swallowed. "Wear this, at least. For luck."

She took off her necklace, with her five years' worth of camp beads and the ring from her father, and tied it around my neck.

"Reconciliation," she said. "Athena and Poseidon together."

Raven watched Percy blush and give an awkward smile. "Thanks." he muttered. Raven's heart sank. They were so perfect for each other.

"And take this," Grover said. He handed Percy a flattened tin can that he'd probably been saving in his pocket for a thousand miles. "The satyrs stand behind you."

"Grover ... I don't know what to say." He patted Percy on the shoulder. He stuffed the tin can in his back pocket. Raven felt like an odd man out with nothing to give. No necklace, no tin can. She wasn't even sure Percy wanted anything from her so she stepped back.

"You all done saying good-bye?" Ares came toward Percy, his black leather duster trailing behind him, his sword glinting like fire in the sunrise. "I've been fighting for eternity, kid. My strength is unlimited and I cannot die. What have you got?"

Percy said nothing. Even though she knew Percy would win Raven found herself sending a silent prayer, _Please,_ she thought,_ whoever is listening up on Olympus. Please let Percy be okay. _

Ares cleaved downward at Percy's head, but he was too fast. The water seemed to push him into the air and Percy catapulted over him, slashing as he came down. But Ares was just as quick. He twisted, and the strike that should've caught him directly in the spine was deflected off the end of his sword hilt.

He grinned. "Not bad, not bad." 

Raven watched the battle drag on. Raven glanced at Annabeth who had her eyes closed, mouthing a prayer to Athena to give Percy wisdom no doubt. But when she looked up she seemed to notice something across the beach. Raven followed her gaze.

"Percy!" Annabeth yelled. "Cops!"

Raven felt herself sigh with relief as she heard the voices. The fight was close to over.

"There, officer!" somebody yelled. "See?"

A gruff cop voice: "Looks like that kid on TV ... what the heck ..."

"That guy's armed," another cop said. "Call for backup."

Percy rolled to one side and Ares blade came down in the sand. She had looked away for a second and he'd been disarmed. She told him to be careful... He scooped up his blade and made a swipe at Ares' face, only to be deflected, so he made a beeline for the water.

"Admit it, kid," Ares said. "You got no hope. I'm just toying with you."

The second cop car pulled up and spectators started pulling in to watch the twelve year old and the God fight.

A police voice on a megaphone said, "Drop the guns.' Set them on the ground. Now!"

Raven had a hard time not seeing through the mist sometimes but she had a pretty good idea what the mortals were seeing. To them Ares was carrying a shotgun.

Ares turned to glare at the spectators. There were five police cars now, and a line of officers crouching behind them, pistols trained on them.

"This is a private matter!" Ares bellowed. "Be gone."

He swept his hand, and a wall of red flame rolled across the patrol cars. The police barely had time to dive for cover before their vehicles exploded. The crowd behind them scattered, screaming. Annabeth had to hold Raven back. Out of all the things Raven hated, harming mortals was on the top of the list. Right below calling her minor. The mortals were defenseless and they had done nothing.

Ares roared with laughter. "Now, little hero. Let's add you to the barbecue."

The battle dragged in as Percy waded farther into the sea. Good. Suddenly A six-foot wall of water smashed Ares full in the face, leaving him cursing and sputtering with a mouth full of sea-weed. Percy landed behind him with a splash and feinted toward his head, as he'd done before. He turned in time to raise his sword, but this time he was disoriented, he didn't anticipate the trick. Percy changed direction, lunged to the side, and stabbed Riptide straight down into the water, sending the point through the god's heel.

Ares roared so loud the very sea was blasted back from Ares, leaving a wet circle of sand fifty feet wide. Ichor, the golden blood of the gods, flowed from a gash in the war god's boot. The expression on his face was beyond hatred. It was pain, shock, complete disbelief that he'd been wounded.

Ares limped forward but was stopped at a darkness spread over the beach. Time slowed. Raven felt cold. It made her feel useless and tired. She looked around in a confused state.

The darkness lifted.

Ares looked stunned.

The spectators had fled leaving only the five of them on the beach. The water flooded back around Ares, washing the golden ichor into the sea. He growled but lowered his weapon.

"You have made an enemy, godling," he told Percy. "You have sealed your fate. Every time you raise your blade in battle, every time you hope for success, you will feel my curse. Beware, Perseus Jackson. Beware."

His body began to glow.

"Don't look Percy," Annabeth called. Raven covered her eyes until the glow died down.

Percy jogged over. Grover and Annabeth, who were staring at me in amazement, Raven looked down sheepishly and handed him the ski-mask in her hands. The helm of darkness.

"Percy, I'm so sorry. I knew that we would get the helm right after we left the underworld so I figured that if we could get Hades on our side as well as get your mother back that was important. I'm so sorry..." She muttered but it didn't matter because Percy just pulled her into a hug.

"I know you had your reasons," He said, "You always do. I was just mad and scared. But you risked your life to get the helm...Thank you."

Raven felt like her chest was about to burst. Her cheeks were beet red and her eyes were definitely watery. Percy pulled back and gave a small smile. He kissed her on the cheek and Raven's whole face flushed.

"I couldn't stay mad at you Raven," He smiled, "You're like a sister to me."

Yup, and then there was that.

Raven tried not to feel bad._ Like a sister_ was at least something. And definitely better than him hating her. But it was pretty hard not to feel broken hearted at that comment. As soon as Percy passed her to face Annabeth and Grover Raven's face fell.

"Percy ..." Grover said. "That was so incredibly ..."

"Terrifying," said Annabeth.

"Cool!" Grover corrected.

"Did you guys feel that... whatever it was?" I asked.

They both nodded uneasily.

"Kronus' power is becoming more powerful as his rising draws near." Raven said joining them.

Annabeth and the others shared a concerned look. She knew how scary the thought of Kronus raising was. Seeing how real things were in this universe made her realize how dire the situation with Kronus really was.

"We have to get back to New York," Percy said.

"Plane," Raven said.

Everyone looked at her as if she was crazy.

"We can't take a plane; Zeus will shoot us out of the sky." Annabeth said.

"No he won't," Raven insisted, "Percy has the master bolt. He won't risk losing or damaging it. It's the fastest way."

Percy and the others looked concerned but agreed. That was when the police showed up and took the four of them in for questioning. Raven felt so exhausted that she fell asleep on Annabeth's shoulder in the back of the police car.


	17. Raven 17

Raven had no idea how the reporters came up with this sob story so quickly but in no time Percy wasn't punk delinquent Percy, he was child hero Percy. Annabeth and the other just nodded and made themselves tear up. It was all Raven could do not to laugh. She remembered reading this part in the book for the first time. It was the part that really got her hooked on the story because she realized how funny Percy was. Now that he was her friend she realized how funny he really way. And cute. Wait what? She forced those thoughts from her brain.

"All I want," Percy said, choking back tears "is to see my loving stepfather again. Every time I saw him on TV, calling me a delinquent punk, I knew ... somehow ... we would be okay. And I know he'll want to reward each and every person in this beautiful city of Los Angeles with a free major appliance from his store. Here's the phone number." The police and reporters were so moved that they passed around the hat and raised money for four tickets on the next plane to New York.

The plane ride to New York was the most relaxed Raven had been in days. She couldn't say the same for Percy in the seat next to her, but she felt fine. She'd flown a lot in her old life. Every summer she had flown out to Illinois to visit her little cousins. She looked concerned over at Percy who wasn't moving and looked like he was having his insides rearranged. She shrugged and took a nap.

Finally they touched down in New York. Raven was nervous about that however. She knew Percy had to head to Olympus. Alone. She was to head back to Camp Half-Blood. She knew Percy would be alright but still it made her nervous. But Percy insisted they head back to Camp.

"Besides you have some explaining to do to Luke, don't you?" Percy said. Raven scowled. That was so not what she wanted to be doing.

She rode the taxi with Annabeth and Grover. She couldn't stop worrying about Percy. She could tell Annabeth felt the same. Her stormy gray eyes were full of concern. She couldn't help but compare herself to Annabeth...the same way she used to compare herself to her sister Kelly. Annabeth's blonde hair was so pretty, her face was so pretty even all scrapped up and dirty like it was now. Her stormy gray eyes were mystifying and somehow dangerous. Raven couldn't imagine herself being considered nearly as beautiful as Annabeth. No wonder Percy would choose her. She was perfect for him.

The Taxi hit a bump and Raven looked away.

They reached Camp in the middle of the night. They climbed the hill and Raven passed Thalia's pine. She couldn't help but think about that morning Percy had shown up, standing up there with Annabeth. She was home again. She had finished her first quest. She had made it to the underworld and back. But her work wasn't done yet.

The three of them marched down the hill and knocked on the big house door. Raven was relieved when Chiron answered the door. She was so exhausted of being nice to unappreciative gods like Dionysus; she finally understood why no one in the books ever did it.

He looked down at our exhausted faces in surprise.

"Where is Percy?" He asked concerned.

"The empire state building," Raven said.

Chiron's face flooded with relief, "Come in."

Raven sat in the back of the room and sipped her hot chocolate while Annabeth and Grover explained everything to Chiron. She had napped on the plane so she wasn't tired at all. She was just soar. She listened to Annabeth and Grover explains every detail of their journey.

"Kronus?" Chiron furrowed his brow in shock and concern.

Annabeth nodded, "that's what Raven said."

Chiron looked to Raven who nodded grimly.

"This is not good..." The centaur muttered. He was silent for a moment before looking at Grover and Annabeth's worried faces, "You children should rest."

Chiron let the three of them stay in the big house that night so they wouldn't disturb their cabin mates. Raven was grateful for that. She settled in for the night and stared at the ceiling. For the first time, in she didn't know how long, she was able to sleep in a bed.

But she couldn't sleep. Thoughts raced in her mind. What if Hades hadn't been true to his word? She hadn't remembered to make him swear on the river Styx to give Percy's mom back. What if Percy actually did end up hating her? And what of Luke? What would he have to say to her? She was sure he'd be mad. She'd left him with nothing more than a note. Lead him to believe it was his entire fault. That he'd drive her away. And what about the Athena cabin. One of the children of Athena was working for Kronus...

Eventually however raven thought herself to sleep.

She woke up with her Cabin mate, Connor Stoll shaking her shoulder. "Yo! Raven wake up. We brought food."

"Fooood," She groaned, sitting up.

Connor placed a plate of eggs and toast on her lap. She could tell Michael Yew from the Apollo cabin had been in because all her cuts and bruises had been mended. Raven bite into the toast and suddenly realized how hungry she was. She finished her breakfast in no time.

"Welcome back to the world of the living," Connor said, "Literally."

"Ha-ha" Raven rolled her eyes.

"Yea, well I'm glad you're back," Connor said, "Should I tell Luke you're back?"

"Oh gods no," Raven moaned as Connor took her plate.

"Ehhh," Connor said, "Well that kind of blows for you since I'm going to tell him anyway."

She groaned. "Connor you're the worst. Get out," Raven said throwing a pillow at him as he ducked out of the room, laughing. When he was gone Raven smiled. He wasn't actually the worst. Raven loved her cabin mates. The Hermes cabin was the closest thing she had to siblings in this life. She was glad to have them.

Raven got out of bed and showered. She hadn't showered in so long, and it felt so good. She washed her hair and blow dried it and it regained its natural curl. She pulled on a camp half blood tee and some shirts. She had a bandage on her arm from when she dove to get the helm of darkness and there were bruises all along her hairline from putting the thing on. After all the tool was meant for a god not a girl. She was lucky it wasn't worse. she had a few cuts and bruises otherwise but that was it. She looked pretty much back to normal. She grabbed her silver circlet off the table and placed it on her head.

She walked downstairs where Annabeth and Grover were waiting for her. She looked at her friends. Annabeth and Grover were bandaged too but they had showered and put on fresh clothes too. Annabeth's blond hair curled like a princess's again. She looked even more beautiful than she did the night before.

"Hey," Raven said, "You two look better."

"Yea," Grover said, "It's good to be home."

"Any word from Percy?"

Annabeth nodded, "Hades gave him mom back. He went to visit her and got back late. He's still sleeping." Raven felt her chest flood with relief. Percy had gotten his mom back.

"That's good," Raven said, "I was worried..."

"We all were," Grover said.

"I wasn't," Annabeth protested stubbornly.

Grover and Raven exchanged a look and giggled.

"What?" Annabeth said. "What's so funny?"

Raven nearly jumped out of her skin when the big house door burst open. Luke panted in the doorway. Raven and Annabeth both blinked. Luke looked up at the three of them. His eyes were locked on Raven though.

"Um," Raven said, "Hi Luke..."

"Connor said," Luke panted, "you were..."

"Yea I know," Raven said. She sighed. A few weeks ago she would have been over the moon at Luke falling all over himself to talk to her. Now it was just kind of...well? She didn't know how to explain it. It was just a thing that was happening. Not good or bad. Just there.

"Look Raven," Luke said catching his breath, "We need to talk."

Raven looked at Annabeth who was looked between the two of them knowingly.

"Uh, sure," Raven said, "Let talk then."

Luke and she walked down by the canoe lake. Raven shoved her hands in her shorts pockets. Luke looked nervous which was weird because he had always been really confident. She followed him along the beach.

"Listen Raven..." Luke said, "What happened before you left...That was my fault. I'm sorry. It's just you and me...It's just...It would be..."

"Weird?" Raven finished, "I know. It would be weird. You're too old for me."

Luke looked at her surprised.

"Listen Luke," She said, "What happened before I left? That was my fault. Not yours. My leaving wasn't your fault. I choose to leave so I could join Percy and Annabeth on their quest. Not because of you. Sure I was upset but I'm not the type of girl who runs from her problems. Maybe I should have told you that but honestly I felt awkward. And I don't feel awkward anymore. I'm not going to lie and say I didn't like you. I might have thought I was in love with you. And it was disappointing when you didn't feel the same way, so let's just agree to be friends. "

"Oh..." Luke said, "That's...mature of you..."

To be honest Raven liked saying that phrase a whole lot more than receiving it.

"Besides," Raven said, "I feel like you aren't going to be the last heart break I ever have."

She glanced over to the big house quietly.

Being the first group to come back from their quest since Luke meant getting the star treatment. The four of them wore laurels and had a feast prepared in their honor. At the bonfire they got to burn the burial shrouds that their cabin mates had made them.

Annabeth's shroud was so beautiful- gray silk with embroidered owls.

"It's a shame not to see you buried in it Annabeth," Percy said which earned him a good slug in the arm.

"Shut up," She grumbled.

The Ares cabin had offered to make Percy's and Percy looked absolutely ecstatic to burn it. He poked it was a stick and shoved it further into the flames.

Since Raven wasn't really supposed to be on the quest she didn't expect anyone to make her a burial shroud. But when Luke had heard Raven was on the quest with them he had gotten the Hermes cabin to make her one.

It was made of shimmering golden fabric that reflected colors the same way a sunrise would. It was embroidered with Apple branches, a symbol of Nemesis and an image of a scale was embroidered in the middle. She felt bad burning it. She could see the effort her cabin mates had put into it. Not bad for a bunch of pranksters and thieves.

She dropped it into the fire. As Apollo's cabin led the sing along and passed out s'mores. Percy joined Raven with the Hermes kids. Annabeth's sat off with her friends from Athena and Raven couldn't help staring over and wondering which one of them was working for Kronus. From the uneasiness among them she could tell each of them was wondering the same thing.

Grover sat with satyr buddies, who were admiring the brand new searcher's license he'd received from the Council of Cloven Elders. The council had called Grover's performance on the quest "Brave to the point of indigestion. Horns-and-whiskers above anything we have seen in the past." Raven was proud of him.

Raven had to roll her eyes at Mr.D's welcome home speech. "Yes, yes, so the little brat didn't get himself killed and now he'll have an even bigger head. Well, huzzah for that. In other announcements, there will be no canoe races this Saturday..."

Raven moved back into the Hermes cabin but this time there was a real bed waiting for her. She tried to argue but everyone insisted. She was the big hero of cabin 11. She laughed to herself. She really hadn't done anything noteworthy. But her cabin mates saw it differently. She didn't care what her cabin mates saw her as though. She was just happy to be home.


	18. Raven 18

The night of the fireworks Raven and Luke spread out their picnic blanket next to Annabeth and Percy. Things had been tense between her and Luke her first few days back but it eventually returned to their old routine. Sword fighting together, talking, laughing. Just being friends. As for her and Annabeth they continued to be best friends once they returned from the quest. Actually they were closer than ever. Raven was really happy to be able to call Annabeth Chase her best friend.

As for Raven and Percy, well Raven had finally come to terms with the fact that she was totally head over heels for him. She had also come to terms with the fact that she could never be with Percy. She could never do that to Annabeth. So for a while since they had gotten back Raven had been avoiding Percy. She knew it was pretty immature but she couldn't help it. It hurt to be with Percy, knowing she could never be _with_ Percy. But Luke had insisted on watching the fireworks with her and Annabeth and since Annabeth was watching the fireworks with Percy there wasn't much she could do.

The fireworks were cool although she wished it was more of an event. Like back home her town would have a big party where everyone dressed up and brought dates and danced until the fireworks began. She thought maybe it was something she could convince Chiron to do something like that. Who knew?

Neither Percy nor Raven had seen the fireworks before so both of them were pretty mystified. The whole thing was pretty awesome. Raven had never seen anything like it. It was like a light up movie in the sky. All she could do was sit and stare. Cabin 9 sure put on a show.

Afterwards Grover came over. Raven knew exactly why he was there before he said a word. She knew he wouldn't stay gone but still letting go to her satyr buddy was hard. He had saved the group so many times and they had bonded a lot over being animal lovers and environmentalists.

"I'm off," he said. "I just came to say ... well, you know."

Percy frowned. Annabeth hugged him. Luke patted him between the horns.

"Keep your feet on, goat boy," Annabeth teased.

Raven gave Grover a quick hug.

"Stay safe," She said giving a faint smile.

"Yea," He said, "Any last futuristic advice."

Raven laughed, "Yea, I happen to _know _you're going to find the great god Pan."

Grover smiled a little more confidently.

"Where are you going to search first?" Percy asked.

"Kind of a secret," he said, looking embarrassed. "I wish you could come with me, guys, but humans and Pan ..."

"We understand," Annabeth said. "You got enough tin cans for the trip?"

"Yeah."

"And you remembered your reed pipes?"

"Jeez, Annabeth," he grumbled. "You're like an old mama goat."

But he didn't really sound annoyed.

He gripped his walking stick and slung a backpack over his shoulder.

"Well," he said, "wish me luck."

Raven patted him on the back. Annabeth gave him another hug. He clapped Percy on the shoulder, and then headed back through the dunes. Fireworks exploded to life overhead.

"Hey, Grover," Percy called.

He turned at the edge of the woods.

"Wherever you're going-I hope they make good enchiladas."

Grover grinned, and then he was gone, the trees closing around him.

"We'll see him again," Annabeth said

"That we will," Raven promised.

Soon enough the last days of summer camp had come. Annabeth had confided in Raven that she was heading how that summer to try and start again with her father. Luke was staying that year of course. Raven wasn't sure what she was going to do. Part of her knew it would be safest for her to stay at camp half blood with Luke and Clarisse (Who actually to Raven's surprise she got along with famously, despite having knocked one of her cabin mates out during capture the flag.) But part of her wanted to pack up. She needed to find her sister, although she feared the worst; she needed to know the truth. She didn't know what she was going to do when the time came but she knew she had to make a decision.

She sat on her bed and flipped through her book of prophecies. Mainly looking at Percy's.

_You shall go west, and face the god, who has turned,_

_You shall find what was stolen, and see it safely returned,_

_You shall be betrayed by one, who calls you a friend,_

_And you shall fail to save what matters most, in the end._

She had revealed what the last lines had meant. Someone at camp would betray Percy and try and kill him. Tomorrow. Someone from the Athena cabin. She had only told Chiron but as always word spread quickly at camp half blood. The whole camp was on edge. Everyone was avoiding the Athena cabin and they were starting to argue among themselves. Raven felt bad but it would soon be over. Today the spy would reveal themselves. Raven would know what she was up against.

Luke called for the last meal and the handing out of the beads. Raven got her own leather necklace and her first bead. A pitch black bead with a sea green trident in the middle. She blushed fingering the bead. Every time she looked at it from then on she'd think of Percy.

"The choice was unanimous," Luke announced. "This bead commemorates the first Son of the Sea God at this camp, and the quest he undertook into the darkest part of the Underworld to stop a war!"

The entire camp got to their feet and cheered. Even Ares' cabin felt obliged to stand. Athena's cabin steered Annabeth to the front so she could share in the applause. The Hermes cabin did the same to Raven.

Raven still didn't know whether she was really ready to leave her new home. For the first time in her existence she had friends. Real friends who loved her. People who thought she was important and thought that she mattered. She wasn't that dorky girl who sat in the back and talked about Percy Jackson anymore. She was a hero.

The next morning Raven knew she had to make up her mind. She woke up and took a look around her cabin. Everyone was asleep; people were strewn on the floor and on bunks. Warm sunlight made the cabin only seem that much warmer and nicer. Sure the Hermes cabin wasn't as nice as say the Athena cabin or the Hephaestus cabin but it was bright and warm and playful. She liked it. She stretched wearing her purple silk night gown.

She grabbed her stuff and went to go change. She looked for her usual camp half blood tee shirt and blue hoodie and shorts but they were no longer in her bag. She dumped out the contents. Her book of prophecies, all 10 Percy Jackson books, her blade Artemis, her circlet, her blue choker. And finally she found clothes in the bottom of her bag, but they weren't her normal clothes. There was a sundress with a plain a white top and a pink flower patterned skirt and a jean jacket along with white tights and pink flats. Along with that were several necklaces and a pink bow to tie her hair back with.

By the time she was done she might as well have been an Aphrodite chick. Her curly black hair was pulled back in a half ponytail with the pink bow she was given. The clothes fit perfectly and the flats already felt like she'd walked miles in them. It was a little weird to see that much pink on her since she preferred blue but it was obvious what the change in wardrobe meant.

It was time to leave camp half blood and move out into the real world.

Raven guessed it was easy to make decisions when you had an immortal goddess tell you what you needed to do. Raven stuffed her things into her bag and walked out of the bathrooms. People were just starting to get up. Camp was over so people were packing a sweeping out their rooms. Cabin 11 did their same old: 'We swept. Yay, we're done.' routine. Luke emerged from the cabin while a bunch of the other Hermes kids cleared out their stuff.

"Whoa," Luke said, "Raven, you look...wow. You going somewhere or did Silena and the Aphrodite kids kidnap you?"

"Ha ha," Raven said, "Yea I'm going somewhere."

"Somewhere?" Luke raised an eyebrow, "Where?"

"I don't know yet," Raven said, "I'm off for the year."

"For the year?" Luke said, looking surprised, "What do you mean?"

"I'm leaving," Raven said, "I'm going to go find my sister."

"Wait you have a sister...?" Luke looked confused.

"A brother too," Raven said marching up to Cabin 11 to pack up her stuff. Luke followed her, "And a father."

"And you're going home?" Luke asked, "I didn't even know you had a family."

"Well I do, and I'm not exactly going home," Raven said, "I ran away when I was little so I don't know what exactly came of them. I want to know what happened to them. Mostly my sister."

"Oh, um, alright..." Luke looked disappointed. She knew he would miss her. The same way she would miss him. The last year she'd spent at camp half blood was the best year of her life. Both of them. But she knew there were things she had to do. She leaned up and pecked Luke on the cheek.

"I'll Iris message you if I get into trouble," She promised.

"Okay," Luke said and gave a small smile, "be careful."

"I will."

Luke was called somewhere outside and ran off while Raven packed up her things. She nearly jumped out of her skin when someone behind her tapped her on the shoulder. She instinctively pulled out Artemis.

"Whoa!" Percy said, "Is this how you greet everyone?"

"Oh," Raven said, "Sorry Percy."

She put her dagger away. She put the blade in her bag and pulled it closed.

"So I had a question," Percy said, "Well I assume Annabeth is going to stay for the year. But Grover is gone...so what are you doing this year. I know you stayed last year."

"Actually I'm leaving for the year this year," Raven said, "But it doesn't really matter what I'm doing. You should do whatever makes you happy."

"Right," Percy said.

"Here's an idea," Raven said, "Go down to the arena. Clear your head."

"Yea..." Percy said taking the suggestion, "good idea...I guess I'll see you later."

"Maybe," Raven smiled.

Raven waited in the trees, the same tree she had waited in the night Percy had taken out Clarisse and the Ares kids. She couldn't see below, but she could hear voices and footsteps coming closer.

"I'm glad you agreed to talk," She heard someone say. She didn't recognize the voice, "It's just Annabeth's been off lately and I was wondering if you knew anything about that."

"Really?" She heard Percy's voice, "I haven't noticed anything. How has she been acting weird?"

"I don't know," The voice said, "It's just she's usually so focused. She just seems distracted. I was wondering if something happened on the quest..."

Raven listened to the breeze blowing through the trees. The sunlight was glistening through the leaves of the three. Raven leaned against the trunk of the tree and held on tight to Artemis which was now in sword form. She listened to the boys just below keeping her breathing slow and quiet.

"We faced a bunch of mechanical spiders if that's what you mean?" She heard the voice shudder at that and that's how she knew the kid was a child of Athena.

"Yea maybe," He said, "Speaking of which do you miss being on a quest."

"Yeah, I miss it," Percy admitted.

"I guess it must have been cool to be out there," The Athena kid said, "fighting monsters and finishing quests. Must be fun."

"Yeah I guess," Percy said.

"I never go that chance," The kid said, "The real world is kind of where you make a name for yourself you know. Well I'm not going to stay here and end up like those dusty trophies in the Big House attic."

"You're leaving?"

"Yea, I'm leaving, alright." The voice sounded more evil, "I might have asked you to say bye to Annabeth for me but...Heh, you're not going to live long enough."

Raven heard the snapping of fingers and heard a small gasp from Percy. She tensed knowing Percy was being threatened. She forced herself to remain quiet. Remain still, and unseen. She couldn't mess with this moment. She just needed to know who this person was. Who her new enemy was.

"I wouldn't," The voice cautioned as Percy presumably went for his sword. "Pit scorpions can jump up to fifteen feet. Its stinger can pierce right through your clothes. You'll be dead in sixty seconds."

"What is this?" Percy demanded. "You. You're the Athena kid who betrayed the camp! Why?"

"Oh come on Percy, you can't tell me you don't know. It doesn't take a son of Athena to realize it." The boy said, "Didn't you feel it-the darkness gathering, the monsters growing stronger? Didn't you realize how useless it all is? All the heroics- being pawns of the gods. They should've been overthrown thousands of years ago, but they've hung on, thanks to us half bloods."

"You're talking about our parents," Percy said.

"That's supposed to make me love them?" The boy scoffed, "My mother's done nothing for me. She hasn't even given me a chance to prove myself. No...All they care about is their precious 'Western civilization'. It's a disease, Percy. It's killing the world. The only way to stop it is to burn it to the ground, start over with something more honest."

"You're as crazy as Ares," Percy spat.

"Ares was a fool! He never realized the true master he was serving. If I had time, Percy, I could explain. But I'm afraid you won't live that long."

"I thought a son of Athena would be smart enough not to listen to Kronus," Percy said, Raven shivered as the air became colder, "He's brainwashing you."

"You're wrong. He showed me that my talents are being wasted. He's putting my brains to good use. Unlike the gods. They pick and choose their favorites. Forget about their other kids. They don't care. Kronus knows my true potential. He gave me the quest my mom wouldn't. When we went on that winter-solstice field trip, while the other campers were asleep, I snuck into the throne room and took Zeus's master bolt right from his chair. Hades' helm of darkness, too. You wouldn't believe how easy it was. The Olympians are so arrogant; they never dreamed someone would dare steal from them. Their security is horrible. I was halfway across New Jersey before I heard the storms rumbling, and I knew they'd discovered my theft."

"So why didn't you bring the items to Kronus?" Percy asked. She could tell he was buying himself time.

"I ... I got overconfident. Zeus sent out his sons and daughters to find the stolen bolt- Artemis, Apollo, my mother, Athena. But it was Ares who caught me. I knew I couldn't beat him so I outsmarted him. It wasn't hard. I put the idea in Ares' head about a great war between the gods. I said all he had to do was hide the items away for a while and watch the others fight. He let me go, and I returned to Olympus before anyone noticed my absence. Afterward, the Lord of the Titans ... h-he punished me with nightmares. I swore not to fail again. Back at Camp Half-Blood, in my dreams, I was told that a second hero would arrive, one who could be tricked into taking the bolt and the helm the rest of the way-from Ares down to Tartarus."

"You summoned the hellhound, that night in the forest." Percy said.

"We had to make Chiron think the camp wasn't safe for you, so he would start you on your quest. We had to confirm his fears that Hades was after you. And it worked. I did everything right. Honestly I'm not sure how you're alive."

"It's a gift." Percy said, ""You're being used. You and Ares both. Don't listen to Kronus."

"I've been used?" The voice turned shrill. "Look at yourself. What has your dad ever done for you? Kronus will rise. You've only delayed his plans. He will cast the Olympians into Tartarus and drive humanity back to their caves. All except the strongest- the ones who serve him."

"Call off the bug," Percy said. "If you're so strong, fight me yourself"

"Nice try, Percy. But I'm not Ares. You can't bait me. My lord is waiting, and he's got plenty of quests for me to undertake. Good-bye, Percy. There is a new Golden Age coming. You won't be part of it."

There was a scuffling and Raven took it as her cue. She swung down from her perch as Percy slashed the scorpion in half, midair. Raven caught him as he stumbled. She cursed herself. She was too late. The kid was already gone. She wrapped Percy's arm around her shoulders and hauled him back into camp as quickly as she could. Along the way a nymph helped her carry Percy into camp. They made it to the clearing and a counselor shouted for help. Chiron and Annabeth showed up so fast it was almost scary, as if feeling Percy withering in her arms wasn't bad enough.

As soon as they made it close Percy passed out.

Chiron questioned Raven to see what happened. She couldn't tell them that she was waiting in the tree so she made something up. She said she was walking in the woods and she thought she heard Percy's voice. When she got there whoever was there was gone and Percy had been stung, so she helped him back to camp.

There was nothing she could do until Percy woke up.

Annabeth stayed beside him the whole time. Raven couldn't help feeling more than a little Jealous. Annabeth got to be next to Percy all the time. She got to be with Percy. She would probably marry Percy and have his kids. She would get to kiss him and love him and Raven couldn't because Annabeth was her best friend. It was so unfair. She loved Percy too.

Annabeth fed him nectar from a straw and waited for him to come to.

Annabeth looked up at Raven as if noticing for the first time she was there. She gave a small smile. "Thanks, by the way."

"For what?" Raven asked.

"You saved Percy's life," Annabeth said, "Duh!"

"Oh yea...that...Well you would have done the same thing."

"Well yea, but still." Annabeth said.

"I didn't think you'd care so much that I saved seaweed brain here..."

Annabeth got a sheepish look on her face and fed Percy more nectar. "Well don't tell him that I care but yea I do..."

"Yea," Raven said.

"Hey."

"What?"

"If I tell you something will you promise never to tell anyone ever," Annabeth asked. Raven shrugged.

"Okay," Raven said, staring down at Percy who was starting to regain the color in his face. Thank the gods. She knew he'd make it but still, practically seeing the life drain from Percy's body had rattled her pretty bad.

Annabeth leaned over and whispered, as if Percy might over hear. "I kind of think Percy is cute..."

Raven felt her face pale a little. She knew Annabeth liked Percy later on, but had her feelings developed this early? She wasn't sure. Either way just hearing it made her heart hurt even worse. This was so unfair. "R-really?"

"Well yea," Annabeth said, blushing a little, "Don't you? I'm not saying I like him or anything. And I'd_ never_ date him but I think he's cute..."

"Never?" Raven asked, forcing herself into compositor.

"Of course not!" Annabeth said, "He's son of Poseidon. He can't take anything seriously, and he's kind of an idiot."

"He is not..." Raven said.

Annabeth shrugged, "Fine, maybe he's less of an idiot than I thought at first but he's still pretty dumb."

"You're not giving him enough credit," Raven felt her cheeks heat up; "Percy is plenty smart. Or maybe you Athena kids just have too high standards."

"Hey! We don't have 'too high standards' Athena kids just value intelligence."

"Sure," Raven frowned,

"What's with you?"

"Well maybe you shouldn't be bragging about how smart _Athena kids_ are when one of you did this to Percy!" Raven practically shouted.

"Oh and that's my fault!?" Annabeth's cheeks were bright red with anger.

"I didn't say that! I said maybe you should stop bragging!" Raven shouted back.

Both girls stopped when Percy stirred. Annabeth sat back down and went back to feeding Percy nectar as his eyes fluttered open. He gave Annabeth a smile when he saw her. His eyes sparkled admirably at her. Raven recognized that look. That was love. True love.

"Here we are again," he croaked. Raven had to hold back her tears.

"You idiot," Annabeth said, flashing Raven a look. Percy just smiled a little. "You were green and turning gray when we found you. If it weren't for Chiron's healing ..."

Raven turned and walked away. She hated Percy. She hated Annabeth. But most of all she hated herself. How could she be so stupid as to fall for Percy? What was wrong with her? She wiped the tears from her cheeks as she grabbed her stuff from her cabin. She just wanted to go.  
Luke noticed her as soon as she entered the cabin. His eyes smiled at her until he got a look at her face, he sat up with concern. "Raven? What's wrong? What happened?"

"Nothing..." She grumbled, wiping her eyes and grabbing her bag.

"That's not anything," Luke insisted, "What happened?"

"Nothing Luke!" She snapped, "Look it doesn't matter anyway! Just...ugh...!"

"Raven I..." Luke backed off, obviously not sure how to handle the situation.

Raven hated that Luke was so concerned about her. He had broken her heart once and she didn't want him comforting her now that it was broken again. She gathered her stuff and left the cabin. She wiped the tears away from her eyes and made her way up half blood hill. She would come back. She had to eventually. But for now she just wanted her sister. With that she looked out over the valley one last time.

She could never really hate this place or anyone in it. Not really. But for now it was best she left. Her heart ached in her chest and her brain pounded in her head. She turned and disappeared over the crest of the hill.

She would be back...

**Woo! I'm done with book one! I know right, depressing ending, right? Oh well, I'm just setting it up for cute things later, don't worry guys. Anyway I'm starting up with the sea of monsters next so if you guys want, leave a review for things you want to see happen in book 2! I'll probably do them so review and tell me what you wanna see happen with Raven. Also feel free to PM me with any questions! love you guys and thanks for following and reviewing! -Piper-Audrey**


	19. Raven 19

**Author's****note: Hey guys! I'm back with part two of Percy Jackson and The Raven. The Sea of Monsters! Woo! I'm gonna have fun with this since Raven is going to be doing her own thing and I have a bit more of a creative licence with this. So I know a lot of this is recapping but I hope you enjoy the first chapter of this adventure. Thank you all for following and such. Please review and follow and all that junk! Thank you. -Piper-Audrey**

Raven was so done with wandering around the country; she wished she was back at camp. Anything would be better than walking around San Francisco in the rain. She hated April. She didn't care if April showers brought may flowers she didn't want to be wet. It had nearly been 8 months since she had broken down and left camp at the end of the summer last year. She'd had a pretty crazy 8 months.

After she had left camp she had spend 2 months looking for her sister and asking anyone she could about it. 2 months later on Raven's birthday on October 22 she finally broke down and called Luke to come pick her up. She'd spent the winter at camp. The Hermes cabin was happy enough to have her back and Luke finally got to the bottom of what Raven had been crying about the day she left camp.

Raven had a crush on Percy Jackson.

Of course Raven had told Luke to keep it quiet and not to tell anyone but she didn't tell that to Connor and Travis Stoll who of course 'over-heard.' Damn ease-droppers. So of course everyone in the camp eventually heard the whole story. Of course some things got twisted around until there were two very different versions of the story.

The first vision of the story which Raven had a sneaking suspicion the Ares cabin started went like this: After their quest Raven was madly in love with Percy who cruelly ignored her and fawned all over Annabeth. Both of them ganged up on the poor girl and chased her out of the camp. Percy's a loser. Boo Percy.

The second version went a little more like what actually happened: Raven was in love with Percy but Percy loved Raven's best friend so Raven got jealous, had a break down and left camp. Percy and Annabeth neither understood what happened at all.

Raven spend Christmas with Luke, who was pretty much her adoptive older brother. Raven loved have Luke as a big brother. He was nice to her and always helped her and was always patient and caring. Raven had a real big brother too, but well, that wasn't exactly a fun story. She didn't like to talk about it.

As soon as the weather got warmer Raven left again. She had been wandering since. She didn't really know what she was looking for anymore but she figured if she kept looking she'd find her sister. Kelly was out there somewhere. She had to believe that, because the alternative was to admit she'd accidently wished away the only person who'd cared about her in her old life.

The thing was that Raven wasn't from this universe at all. She was a normal 15 year old girl. A regular fan girl from the PJO fandom. She was obsessed with the books. She was a nerd and got bullied a lot so she always wished she could be a hero like in her books and have friends. She never really expected that to ever happen though. She didn't think she'd ever get out of math class or hiding in the woods behind her house while her brother had one of his fits or sitting through another screaming match between her parents.

That was when this lady offered her one wish in exchange for helping her. Raven didn't believe it until she woke up, twelve years old again behind a dumpster in front of yancy academy. She'd decided to use her knowledge of the books to help the characters of the books to be happier.

She'd started by convincing Luke not to join Kronus. Then followed Percy and Annabeth on their quest. Along the way Raven had fallen deeply in love with Percy, fully aware of the fact the romance was doomed since Percy was destined to fall for her best friend, Annabeth.

So hear she was now. Looking for her sister Kelly.

Kelly was probably the only person who had ever cared about Raven. She was kind and always babied Raven. She was more like a mom than a sister. When they were little she'd always giving her piggy back rides and insisting on holding her hand when they crossed the streets. Always protective and insisting Raven was the cutest thing on earth. They just had that kind of relationship. She missed Kelly more than anything.

But that was why Raven was in San Francisco. In the pouring rain. She was looking for Kelly. She kicked a bottle down the street and keeping her head down. Her black curls pressed to her head. She hated the rain. She wished Eos would just tell her where to look already. She had tried calling out to her but she got nothing.

Eos was the goddess of the dawn who had fulfilled Raven's wish. She was her patron goddess who always made sure she had what she needed. By far one of the only good gods she knew. She trusted Eos more than she trusted her mother, Nemesis.

She ducked under the shelter of a store front and waited a bit.

This time for year two years ago she'd be in class. In fact she'd be a junior by now. She thought anyway. She wasn't sure. She leaned against the building wall and drew Luke's hoodie around her shoulders. It was way too big for her but Luke insisted she take it since she had lost her own. That's when she heard the voice behind her.

"Evening child," it said and Raven jumped.

She turned to stare at Eos. She looked the same as the last time she's seen her except this time she didn't have pure white wings and she was dressed in a white blouse and jeans. Tithonos the grasshopper was sitting on her shoulder as always, once a powerful Trojan prince now a glaring grasshopper. She stuck her tongue out at him. Tithonos hated Raven, because she was Eos' hero instead of him.

"Raven, Tithonos get along won't you?" Eos said, "We have important business to discuss."

"That's right we do!" Raven said, "Where have you been? I've been calling you."

"Remember your manners miss," Eos chided. There was once a time when Raven had been respectful of all the gods. She had tried flattery to get them on her side. She had learned quickly why demigods didn't do that. The gods were so nasty there was no way you could be polite sometimes, so Raven had quickly given up.

"Sorry ma'am," Raven muttered.

"Now," Eos said, "Listen child, I think you have misread my signs."

Raven blinked. She never misread Eos' signs.

"What do you mean?"

"I sent you out in the world but not for the reasons you think. I didn't send you looking for your family." Eos said, "But never the less you ended up where I want you so I suppose it doesn't matter."

Raven stared at her. It was so sad to think that Eos was one of the good ones. "Excuse me, what?"

Eos looked at her, confused, "I'm sorry?"

"I'm not here looking for my family, what else is there? What else could be more important? And you couldn't have mentioned this sooner!?" Raven scowled.

"I'm a goddess, girl," Eos said, "I have more important things to do. And you will find out the fates of your family soon enough, it all happens-"

"-in time." Raven pointed at the circlet on her head, "Bringer of Hope, remember? I know."

"Right," Eos hummed, "And to answer your other question, thinks about it. In your precious little books what important is in San Francisco?"

Raven thought for a moment. "Annabeth doesn't get kidnapped until the titan's curse. This is the sea of monsters...Kronus isn't powerful enough to rise Mount Othrys yet...What?"

Raven had no idea what Eos was talking about. Eos looked at her expectantly. "Think farther ahead..."

"The only other thing is..." Then it hit her, "Camp Jupiter?"

Eos beamed, "So smart."

"Whoa," Raven said, "Camp Jupiter doesn't even matter until the first book of the second series, when we meet Jason Grace and Hazel and Frank and all them. Aren't we getting ahead of ourselves?"

"And how well did that work out?" Eos asked.

"Okay, good point," Raven said.

"Raven my dear I believe you are to be the stronger glue that will hold these camps together in friendship," Eos said, "You will find the camp and earn their trust and change the fate of this story for the better."

"I thought I could just like...Stop Leo from blowing the camp up or something," Raven said. Raven didn't like the idea of going to camp Jupiter. They were always a little too warlike for her tastes. A little too strict. She would much rather race chariots than play war games. Besides they had some pretty nasty people there, like Octavian. She couldn't stand that guy. She'd hated him in the books and she was pretty sure she'd hate him in real life too.

"And how well do you think it will work out even then?" Eos argued, "This is not up for debate, Raven. Find camp Jupiter and earn their trust. Then maybe there will be some kind of reward in it for you. Maybe something about your sister."

Raven's cheeks burned, "Fine."

Eos smiled, handing her a bundle of clothes. "Very good. These are for you. It's always best to put your best foot forward when meeting new people. And I'd rather not have my hero show up at camp looking like...well you."

Raven looked down. She was wearing jeans she'd drawn all over, a blue tee-shirt and Luke's hoodie. She had a point, but still, rude. She frowned and took the bundle of white fabric. She looked up to say more but Eos and her glaring cricket had already left.

Raven frown. Typical. She would find the dumb roman camp. At least there she wouldn't run into, _him_. The big_ you know who_. The person who had betrayed the whole camp. The one who had tried to kill Percy on many occasions. The person she could never forgive for trying to hurt the person she loved.

Annabeth's brother, Malcolm.


	20. Raven 20

Raven hated looking for Camp Jupiter. She didn't want to go to the wolf house. That was what Romans did. Raven was Greek and she had no intention of acting otherwise. She would find this place and get out. She would continue her search for her sister or go back to camp half blood.

Honestly she had no idea how the Greeks and Romans ever got along. No, Literally. Raven still hadn't read the last book. She hadn't had time. It wasn't as if she thought Romans were bad. Frank and Hazel were Roman and Raven absolutely adored them, she just didn't feel like they'd accept her. She and them, they were different. They were Roman. They were all about war and honor and Raven just wasn't like that, she was about balance and beauty. She liked culture and art and poetry. She wasn't all that into violence unless she was doing it to help a friend. Unless she knew it was the right thing.

Camp Jupiter eluted Raven for some time. The mist was wound so tightly between her and it. Even when Raven knew what she was looking for, knew what was there and with Eos helping guiding her, It still took nearly a month for Raven to find it. In the middle of May. School would be getting out soon. Summer camp would be starting soon and Percy would be there.

Raven was standing between two streets one hand on her backpack strap and the other holding her magical weapon, Artemis. She was looking up at the two boys standing guard in golden armor who stared back at the strange black haired girl wearing a pure white roman toga and holding a golden sword.

Raven swung her blade and turned it into a bow. The boys armed themselves with their swords. She took a piece of paper from her pocket (a letter of introduction from Eos) and tossed it nonchalantly into the air and watched it flutter for a second. She drew back her bow and an arrow appeared aimed and ready. She released and the arrow caught the letter midair and shot between the two boys lodging itself in the cement wall. They were so stunned one of them fell over and raven couldn't help but grin as she turned Artemis back into a dagger and slipping it into her belt. She placed her hands on her hips and waited for them to read the letter. The taller one (the one still standing took the letter of introduction from the arrow and opened it.

Raven stood there for a minute then another while the boys looked at each other then back down at her. Why were Romans so complicated? At camp half blood you just showed up and everyone accepted you. Eventually the taller one shrugged and waved at Raven to approach.

Raven blow a stray curl from her face and walked up.

"Sorry about the arrow gentlemen I didn't want to risk approaching if you thought I was an intruder," Raven said bowing her head slightly.

"That's, uh, fine miss Blouse?" The shorter one said. Raven winced; it had been so long since anyone had said her last name. No one ever called Raven 'miss blouse' that's what they called her mom. Raven didn't want to be called anything that her mom was called.

"Raven" She corrects, "I see you read the letter."

"Um, yea, it's not often that a goddess sends a demigod to us." The taller boy said handing Raven back her letter. She placed one hand on her hip and straightening her circlet with the other, "especially not one so, um, highly praised."

"Yea well it's nothing to be proud of really," she said, "I'm not all that special. Anyway I don't plan to be here long so can I be taken to your Praetor? Now? Please and thank you."

"Right," The boys said.

Raven looked up the hill to her left and thought about Percy riding down it on a snack tray in a few years. She couldn't help but smile at the thought. "Yea know. You guys should watch out for Stupid sixteen year olds falling from the sky...It'll happen someday."

The boys looked at each other then looked back at Raven as if she were crazy. Raven shrugged, she was used to it. They opened the door and allowed Raven to pass into the tunnel. Raven walked ahead, her skin tingled. She had expected this to feel wrong. Like she didn't belong here, but Raven felt fine. In fact she felt a kind of pull towards the end of the tunnel. She guessed that was because Nemesis was the same Greek and Roman. Revenge was universal.

The two boys walked behind her as Raven inspected the electric wiring along the walls and watched as cement changed to mosaic the lights changed to reed torches, which burned but didn't smoke. A few hundred yards ahead, she saw a square of daylight. She picked up her dress to jog up further and the boys had to pick up the pace to keep up. Raven burst out the tunnel and a fresh breeze rippled through her hair and toga. Spread out before her was a beautiful valley several miles wide. The basin floor was rumpled with smaller hills, golden plains, and stretches of forest. A small clear river cut a winding course from a lake in the center and around the perimeter, like a capital G. Raven had to blink and stare to take it all in, live oaks and eucalyptus trees, gold hills and blue skies. Her heart throbbed in her chest, she felt like she'd stepped into a secret world. In the center of the valley, nestled by the lake, was a small city of white marble buildings with red-tiled roofs. Some had domes and columned porticoes, like national monuments. Others looked like palaces, with golden doors and large gardens. She could see an open plaza with freestanding columns, fountains, and statues. A five-story-tall Roman coliseum gleamed in the sun, next to a long oval arena like a racetrack.

Everything Percy had described in the books.

"Camp," she murmured, "Wow..."

"Yea," One of the boys said, "It's pretty great huh?"

The taller boy pointed out into the distance, "That's New Rome over there. Anyway let's get across the river."

The boys lead Raven down the path down to the river. Raven looked down at the little Tiber. This was where Percy had lost his blessing of Achilles. She wondered if she would give up that kind of gift to cross this river, even to reach that beautiful valley on the other side. She decided no. Even if she would reach that beautiful camp on the other side she would never give up something like the Achilles blessing.

She gathered her toga and crossed the river. The guys waited for her on the other side, the shorter one looked annoyed but the taller guy waited patiently. Raven watched her feet as the cold water of the little Tiber rushed through her legs and couldn't help but smile. She finally came out the other side and let her dress fall to the grass again.

Kids around the camp started to notice as the two boys brought this skinny pale black haired girl dressed in this ridiculous white toga. Kids leaned over and watched and raven could hear the whispers. "Who's that?" "New camper?" "Why is she dressed like that?" "She looks like a goddess!" Raven narrowed her eyes at that last one. _Yea right_, she thought _now if only Percy would say that._

The taller boy put a hand on my shoulder, "Ah, the campers always talk when we get someone new, don't let it bother you."

"Yeah," Raven said, shrugging "I don't mind."

"Anyway I'm sure Carson and Cameron will be, uh more or less pleased to see you," He said, "I think they're up in the principia."

"Carson and Cameron," Raven said, the names tasted so unfamiliar. She knew Reyna was in the sea of monsters right now and she knew Jason wherever he was, probably wasn't predator yet. But still it was hard to think of someone other than Reyna and Jason as praetors of the twelfth legion.

"Yea," The boys said, "They're pretty cool, and I mean I wouldn't do things the same way as them but they're not bad. Carson is really laid back doesn't do much. It's really Cameron who's in charge. She's probably who you'll talk to."

"Good to know," Raven said.

"Dakota," The taller boy turned to the shorter guys, "Why don't you go tell the augur that there a new arrival. I'm going to take Raven to Cameron."

"Got it," Dakota said and walked off.

"This way," The taller boys said, walking off and waving for Raven to follow. Raven picked up her skirt and followed.

The sun beat down and she and the boy traveled along in silence for the most part. The principia was beautiful. Raven looked up at it sort of mystified. She hadn't expected Camp Jupiter to be so pretty. The only thing that seemed out of order was the guy snoring in from of it. This brown hair boy was lying passed out in front of the building wearing golden armor and a big purple cape.

"Carson," The boy kick him, "Wake up you're making us look bad in front of our guest."

"Huh," Carson sputtered awake, "What where? Oh!"

The boy's eyes landed on Raven who was looking on in confusion and a hint of disgust. This was one of the legion praetors. This was pathetic. The brown hair boy looked up at Raven, stupid smile and all. "Hey!" He said stumping to his feet and leaning on Raven's escort. "Look you brought a girl home! How sweet!"

"Okay well you're totally out of it," The boy said sidestepping and letting Carson fall to the ground.

"Uh," Raven said.

"Raven meet Carson, praetor of the twelfth legion, son of Bacchus." The boy explained, "He doesn't do much but he helps balance out Cameron. If it were up to her smiles would be forbidden so we keep Carson around."

Suddenly Raven heard a voice behind her.

"Carson!" A brown hair girl called, "Oh!"

She rushed over and helped Carson off the ground looking flustered. She had curly brown hair and big worried blue eyes and freckles across her nose. She wore a purple SPQR shirt and a white knee-length skirt.

"Oh...he's at it again!" She said worriedly, and then looked at Raven and her escort, "I'm so sorry. I'll take him back to uh ya know...! I'm so sorry if he caused you trouble!"

"Raven this is Gracie," The boy said, "She's Carson's little sister. She takes care of Carson for the most part. And its cool Gracie, he didn't do anything really."

Gracie nodded as she wrapped her brother's arm around her shoulder and helped him wobble away. Raven looked on blinking. Camp Jupiter certainly wasn't anything like Camp half-blood. She noticed her escort had started to walk ahead and she had to jog to keep up.

The inside of the principia was even prettier than the outside. On the ceiling glittered a mosaic of Romulus and Remus under their adopted mama she-wolf. The floor was polished marble. The walls were draped in velvet so it looked like some sort of velvet tent. Along the back wall stood a display of banners and wooden poles studded with bronze medals. In the center was one empty display stand, as if the main banner had been taken down for cleaning or something. In the back corner, a stairway led down. It was blocked by a row of iron bars like a prison door.

In the center of the room, a long wooden table was cluttered with scrolls, notebooks, tablet computers, daggers, and a large bowl filled with jelly beans, which seemed kind of out of place. Two high-backed chairs sat in the back of the room. Raven looked around mystified. The only things that were missing were Reyna's silver and gold dogs and a woman praetor with black hair and dark eyes.

Raven got those things.

Suddenly from behind them there was a bang and the door behind them swung open with a bang. A tall girl with Smokey eyes and dark black hair cut in a pixie cut. She was wearing an identical outfit as Carson was and a flowing purple cape. She was slim and looked intimidating regal. Trotting at her ankles were two greyhounds made of gold and silver.

"I have limited time so make this quick Jason," she said addressing the boy without even looking at him, "Who's the girl?"

"Wait Jason?" Raven said looking at the boy who had escorted her to the principia. For the first time since they'd met the boy took off his helmet. Short blond hair, cut roman style, electric blue eyes and a small scar on his upper lip from trying to eat a stapler.

The girl cleared her throat, startling Rave and Jason back to attention.

"Uh, Cameron, this is Raven Blouse," Jason said, "The goddess Aurora she sent her. Raven this is our praetor Cameron."

"Right," Raven said holding up her letter of introduction.

"Ah," Cameron said sitting in one of the thrones in the back of the room and leaning on her hand. She blew a stand of black hair from her face. Her smoky eyes dug into Raven like daggers studying her like a textbook she had an especially test on and she had forgotten to study until the night before. "Well sent by a goddess, huh? Interesting. Welcome to camp Jupiter. Do you know your parentage?"

"Oh," Raven said, a bit relieved, while be strict and intimidating at least the praetor wasn't as terrifying as she looked "Daughter of Nemesis. Thank you for having me."

"No problem, I guess we'll have an extra player for the war games tonight," She said, "Lets see if we can find you a cohort by then. That is if the augur deems you worthy."

"Right..." Raven said the augur. Her mind wandered to the thought of Octavian. That slime ball. She really hoped she wouldn't run into him.

"Anyway I have things to do," Cameron grumbled, getting up again quickly, "Homecoming and all. Lots of planning and the gods know Carson won't do it. Jason take Miss Blouse to the augur."

"Right," Jason said. Raven scowled at the use of Miss Blouse. Cameron walked past Jason and Raven her Cape fluttering behind her. She watched as her dogs followed her looking up at Raven with ruby red eyes. She stood there a moment stunned. Jason looked after Cameron before looking back at Raven. "That went well."

Before Raven could think she blurted out, "_You're_ Jason Grace!?"


	21. Raven 21

Raven hadn't meant to sound rude but she couldn't believe she had been standing next to Jason Grace this whole time and just not known. She hadn't even thought to ask this kid his name. She just assumed Jason would be off doing something heroic or something. Jason stood there blinking.

"Uh yea..." He said staring at her, "Do we...know each other..?"

Raven's cheeks turned beet red, she thought she'd nipped that habit of blurting things she wasn't supposed to in the bud but apparently not. "Sorry, uh no...I mean sort of. I mean..."

"Ya know what? I'm just not going to ask."

"Yea that would be best."

Jason led the way up the hill.

"So," He said, "Where are you from? You must be pretty impressive; I mean a goddess sent you. What'd you do to earn that sort of honor?"

Raven had to stop herself from saying: _Well, I gave her my lunch. _

"Aw nothing much," She shrugged, "I'm not a hero. Those are my friends. They're the impressive ones."

"Really?" Jason said, "Tell me about them."

"Well," Raven shifted, crossing her arms, "There's Annabeth. She's the smart one. The pretty one. She's kind of like our leader, I mean she doesn't know it yet but she'll grow into it. Then there's Grover, our faun friend, he's super cool. We're sort of nature buddies. Then well..."

"Then what?" Jason asked as Raven trailed off.

"Then there's Percy Jackson..." Raven said his name the way you might say _The Isles of the Blest_. Raven blushed and shook her head, chiding herself for remembering him. "He's son of Neptune. He's just really great..."

Jason frowned but didn't say anything about it. "So you guys are like independent? That sounds dangerous."

"Oh it is," Raven nodded, "Like our last adventure. That was something."

"What'd you do?" Jason asked quizzically looking at her with curious blue eyes.

"It's hard to explain," Raven shrugged, "See last winter someone stole your dad, Jupiter's lightning bolt...I don't know if you guys heard but Jupiter blamed Percy for the disappearance."

Jason looked at her for a second, "You're messing with me."

"No!" Raven said, "It's true, see at the time we thought it was Hades who had really done it so we traveled all the way from New York to Los Angeles to talk to Hades. We fought Medusa and we met Mars! We retrieved the lightning bolt and returned it to your dad! It's true."

"But," Jason said, "We never heard anything like that..."

"Really?" _Oops_, Raven was sure the Romans had heard something was wrong in Olympus or something. After All for everything that seemed to happen at camp half blood there seemed to be something similar going on at camp Jupiter. Like the defeat of Kronus and the battle at mt. tam. "Well maybe Cameron heard but didn't want to worry the troops."

"Maybe..." Jason frowned, "Well if what you say is true I guess you and your friends really helped out my dad then. That's amazing. I can see why aurora likes you so much."

"Yea well Aurora likes me just as much as she likes to mess with me." Raven said, "Besides It wasn't really me. It was Percy. He was really amazing."

"Sounds like you like him," Jason said.

Raven laughed nervously. "No way. I don't like him. We're friends. Just friends."

"Right," Jason said a slight twinkle in his blue eyes.

"Look, let's just walk, okay?" Raven said, "Walk."

"Okay whatever you say," Jason rolled his eyes.

When they reached the temple at the top of the hill Raven looked up at it. She wondered who the augur was. It couldn't be Octavian right? If Jason and Reyna weren't praetors than it was logical to assume Octavian wasn't Augur, but still there was this sick feeling in her stomach.

"Come on," Jason said, "I know this part is super dumb but it's best to get it over with."

Raven nodded, giving a weak. "I guess." She said thinking for a moment, "Hey thanks for showing me around camp and stuff and just ya know kind of being cool but I think it'll go better if I did this part alone."

Jason smiled and shrugged, "No problem, I mean it was my pleasure. And hey if you get the go ahead, I could totally stand for you. The fifth Cohort is pretty awesome."

Raven smiled a bit. "Right. Sounds like a plan."

Jason turned and jogged down the hill. Raven stood there and watched as he disappeared in the distance. She turned back to the temple in front of her and brushed off her toga before entering. The marble floor was etched with fancy mosaics and Latin inscriptions. Sixty feet above, the domed ceiling sparkled gold. The whole temple was open to the wind.

In the center stood a marble altar of a massive golden statue of the Jupiter the sky god, dressed in a silk XXXL purple toga, holding a lightning bolt. Raven couldn't help but agree with Percy. That was not what the master bolt looked like, but she didn't say anything. Mainly because there was no one to say anything to. The temple was empty. Raven noticed the pile of stuffed animals at the foot of the stature and crinkled her nose. Someone was nearby at least.

"Hello?" She called, "Raven Blouse here? Ya know here to get told I can stay?"

No answer.

"Stupid Augurs," She muttered, "Can't even show up to rip apart some stupid stuffed animals."

"Rude." She heard a voice behind her, "You know it's customary to treat your superiors with a little bit of respect. Especially when they hold your fate in their hands."

Raven spun around. A tall boy stood before her. He was sickly pale with blonde hair and a slightly crazy look in his eyes. He was skinny and annoyed looking. Perhaps a year or two older than her but he was about her height. She looked him up and down and immediately felt sick. There was no mistaking this kid the way she had Jason. This was Octavian. Raven scowled at him.

"Well," She hissed, "I don't tend to act respectful to people I don't respect."

"Wow," He narrowed his eyes at her, "you're just the unpleasant one aren't you?"

Raven scrunched up her nose at him.

"Whatever," She said, "just read your entrails or whatever you do."

"I don't just read entrails," Octavian spat back; "I read the will of the gods!"

"Whatever," Raven rolled her eyes, "Seriously I thought our oracle was bad..."

"Oracle!?" Octavian sounded insulted, "I'm no silly oracle! I am and augur. Besides the idea of an oracle would be stupid once Cameron lets me go searching for the sibylline books."

"Right," Raven said, "Your dumb Books of prophecy."

"They aren't dumb," Octavian countered, "They're very important. If I just had one...man with that kind of knowledge."

"Whatever," Raven said fishing through her bag, "Fine if it's that important you can have mine. Hasn't done anything for me so far. Doubt it will."

Octavian turned around so fast that Raven thought his neck would snap. She fished her leather bound book out of her book and stuck it out to this skinny blond kid. She had no need for the book. She'd memorized most of them. The important ones anyway. Besides that, it's not like knowing the prophecies gave you any power. Trying to change them only brought you harm, and if Octavian wanted to do just that, then hallelujah.

The crazy look in Octavian's eyes intensified by like a thousand times as he reached for the book from Raven's hands. He hesitated like he was afraid she'd take it away at the last second. Finally he took it and flipped through the pages read the lined slowly.

"It's real," He whispered, "This is a real book of prophecies."

He looked up at Raven as if seeing her for the first time. He studied her. White toga, sandals, silver circlet. She placed her hands on her hips as she shouldered her bag again. She really needed to change. She had no idea why Eos wanted her to wear this dumb thing here anyway. But yet again why does Eos do anything she does.

"And you're just giving me this?" Octavian confirmed.

"Why not?" Raven shrugged. "It's yours, keep it."

"Ya know I think we could be friends." He looked Raven up and down like he had thought it over and deemed her useful. She seriously hated this guy. Like she would ever help him. The stupid book did not mean they could ever _ever _be friends.

"Ew," Raven said, "Just tell me I can stay so we can go play wargames."

"Right." Octavian said, frowning but holding his new book close to his chest like it was some sort of lifeline. Raven resisted the urge to call him a nerd. He turned to the altar and picked up a teddy bear from a giant pile off to the side. He raised his knife and split it open. He was silent for a long time.

"What did it say?" Raven asked after a long pause and leaned over to see, "It said I could stay right?"

It had long since gotten dark out but the torches in the temple provided plenty of light for them to see by. Even with that light Raven didn't see anything in those but white pieces of fluff. That was it. Octavian was crazy.

"Uh yes," He finally said, "The gods have deemed you worthy of joining the legion. You can tell Cameron."

"Great," She said, but looking at Octavian she could tell something was off. She could tell he was lying about something. It wouldn't have surprised her. She shook her head. Maybe she was imagining it. She turned, "Well have fun with your book."

Jason met her at the bottom of the hill.

"Hey I know you said I could go ahead but I wanted to see what Octavian had to say," He said, "He did say you could stay right?"

"Yea," Raven huffed, "I gave him a book and he flipped, said I could stay."

Jason gave her a look but didn't question her.

"I guess we can tell Cam the good news," Jason said, "new campers are rare, especially ones that come from the outside. Most of the time we get legacies from new Rome, ya know. I'm glad you could join us."

"Thank you," Raven gave him a sideways smile, "Still willing to stand for me to join the fifth? I don't think anyone else would."

"Of course!" Jason said, "Now days no one wants to join..."

"Shame," Raven said, "I don't know a lot about camp Jupiter but ya know, I think that the fifth is something special."

"Yea," Jason smiled, "I think so too. Anyway let's go see if we can find Cam."

New Rome was probably the prettiest thing Raven had ever seen, and Raven had seen Elysium. She kept running ahead and pointing at things and Jason would have to jog to keep up, but he smiled in amusement. The torch light cast a soft orange glow over the city, college students and little kids ran through the streets. Woman and men laughed together and walked around. Raven understood why Percy wanted to go to college and live here...with Annabeth.

Raven shook the thought from her head. In a big clearing at the edge of New Rome more than two dozen demigod soldiers stood around a circle around Cameron who was holding a piece of paper and pointing around the clearing.

"What's going on?" Raven whispered to Jason.

"Homecoming," Jason explained, "Since a lot of the summer campers are coming from the mortal world at the end of this week we have this big dance thing where everyone plays dress up and gets a date to kind of get that modern world feeling out of there system. It's not really my kind of scene but some people are into it."

"Ya don't say," Raven mused, "I didn't think Romans knew how to party."

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"Nothing," Raven grinned at him.

Jason looked confused for a second but shrugged. Cameron looked over her shoulder and noticed them. She excused the demigods and they walked off in a few groups. She walked over to them, looking at Jason without regarding Raven.

"Ah, Son of Jupiter," She said, "Daughter of Nemesis. Planning is such a hassle. They all want my approval on things. They should know by now that I don't really care. Anyway what did the augur say? I assume something good."

"Octavian said it was cool for me to stay," Raven shrugged, "Although I'm not really sure whose idea it was to let that clown decide anything."

"That was _my _idea, new recruit," Cameron said coldly, "Octavian may be eccentric but he has untapped potential, He's a loyal roman soldier, and I'm hoping a position of power will allow him to, express that."

Raven had to force herself not to laugh, the only thing that boy was loyal to be himself and his own quest for power.

"Anyway it's about time we start the legion assemble and the war games," Cameron said, "Jason, you should go join your cohort and change into your armor, a centurion needs to set an example and uh, Raven, hmmm...uh, Sarah? John?"

Two of the Roman soldiers jogged over.

"Take Raven to the assembly, She'll need to be assigned a cohort."

The two soldiers nodded and waved for Raven to follow them. Jason waved goodbye and she waved too and smiled a little. The two soldiers nudged her along. Sarah said something about getting her changed and into some proper armor.

"Although with what I hear around here, I doubt you'll even have to use it." Sarah said.

Raven looked confused, "What do you mean?"

"Oh nothing," Raven didn't think it was nothing but she decided questioning Sarah wouldn't get her anywhere anyway. As they walked they passed the Lares, who looking in their direction but didn't say a word. She thought that was odd. When Percy was here they had called him Greek. Maybe it was because her mother didn't have a different roman aspect.

Raven had to admit the legion was more than a bit intimidating the first four cohorts, each forty kids strong, stood in rows in front of their barracks on either side of the Via Praetoria. The Fifth Cohort assembled at the very end, in front of the principia, She saw Jason standing in the very front wearing full body armor and carrying a red and gold shields the size of a refrigerator door, a harpoon-like spear called a pilum, a gladius, a dagger, and about a hundred pounds of other equipment. He looked pretty ridiculous and Raven stifled a laugh.

Raven had been given a purple tee-shirt and jeans to change into, which felt way more comfortable that that toga which she had to pick up to run. Raven hated dresses and girly thing. She barely wore jewelry, except her blue seashell choker, which allowed her to breathe underwater and her silver circlet. She was given armor as well but she wasn't nearly as deck out as Jason or the others. Polished chain mail and greaves and a helmet with a big plume on top of it, her black curls stuck out from under it, and leather combat boots with iron cleats. They were at least easier to walk in than roman sandals.

Cameron stood in front of the cohorts on a pure white Pegasus. She was wearing a helmet and walking back and forth in front of the legion. She glanced over at Raven and Raven could have been wrong but she could have sworn that was a glare. She squeaked and slunk back. Cameron was scary.

Octavian shouted, "Colors!"

The standard-bearers stepped forward. They wore lion-skin cape and held poles decorated with each cohort's emblems. The last to present his standard was Jacob, the legion's eagle bearer. He held a long pole with absolutely nothing on top. Raven knew what was supposed to be up there and she wanted to assume the poor kid that he'd get to present the real eagle eventually but she knew better than to speak out. The embarrassment in the air was nearly tangible.

"Romans!" Cameron's cold voice boomed over the legion, "We have a new comer in our midst. The goddess Aurora has brought her to us, Raven Blouse, Daughter of Nemesis."

Raven's shoulders tensed as the roman eyes fell on her; she raised her hands to awkwardly wave. Jason flashed a smile which sort of calmed her.

"She seeks to join the legion. What do the auguries say?"

"I have read the entrails!" Octavian announced. "The auguries are favorable. She is qualified to serve!"

_Was this who they greeted all new recruits?_ Raven wondered _because this is really some hello. Waita make the new kids feel welcome._

The campers gave a shout: "Ave! Hail!"

The senior officers stepped forward, one from each cohort. Jason as the most senior centurion turned towards Raven. He gave her a reassuring smile. God she was glad he was cool with her. If she had to have one friend in camp Jupiter she was glad it was him. She didn't care what Hazel and Annabeth had said. He had more than proven himself in her book. He did what he was supposed to, and protected his family. That was all that mattered to her.

"Raven," He said, "Your letter of reference."

Raven jumped, ripped out of thought. She unfolded her letter from her pocket and handed it over. Jason held it up for all to see. "Letter of reference from the goddess Aurora. She favors this demigod."

He handed the letter to Cameron. She cleared her throat, "Now. Will any legionnaires stand for her?"

Jason opened her mouth and Raven sighed revealed she had someone ready to stand for her. She didn't know what happened when no one stood for you but she doubted anything good. Nothing ever good happened to you when you didn't fit in in camp Jupiter.

But the voice Raven heard speak wasn't Jason's at all. Her eyes flew open and she whipped her head to look at who was speaking, in horror.

"I will stand for her," Octavian said, "To join the first."


	22. Raven 22

Whispers broke out among the crowd. Raven wanted desperately to scream _no! _She did not want to join the first and she definitely did not want Octavian to stand for her, but she had the good sense to stay silent. She looked at Jason for help but he looked just as confused as she did. He looked at her like _what now? _

She looked back and mouthed: _Help me! _

Before he could say anything Cameron held her hand for silence.

"Silence," Cameron ordered and no one was stupid enough to disobey. "Octavian stands for this recruit. Are you sure you accept the responsibility?"

"I do," Raven was about to die. It sounded like they were getting married. She wanted to hide somewhere. She knew coming here was a mistake. Oh gods.

"Does your cohort accept her?"

The first cohort pounded their shields furiously which made Raven jump.

"My cohort has spoken," Octavian announced, "We accept the recruit."

Cameron shot Raven a death glare, like she was angry at her for joining the first. Raven wanted at shout at her: _Hey! I'm just as peeved as you are lady! _Her Pegasus walked over. "Very well, Raven Blouse, You stand on probatio. You will be given a tablet with your name and cohort. In one year's time or as soon as you complete an act of valor, you will become a full member of the Twelfth Legion Fulminata. Serve Rome, obey the rules of the legion, and defend the camp with honor. Senatus Populusque Romanus!"

The rest of the Legion roared into cheers. Of course it was a big celebration to be welcomed into the first. The only people not cheering were Raven, Jason and Cameron. Raven looked miserably out into the crowd.

"Centurions," Cameron boomed, "you and your troops have one hour for dinner. Then we will meet on the Field of Mars. The First and Second Cohorts will defend. The Third, Fourth, and fifth will attack. Good fortune!"

The cohorts broke rank and ran for the mess halls. Jason walked over.

"I'm so sorry Raven! I was going to stand for you I swear...I don't know what that guy has planned but it isn't good. Watch your back around him okay?"

"Don't have to ask me twice." Raven agreed.

In the mess hall Invisible wind spirits—aurae—waited on the campers and seemed to know exactly what everyone wanted. They blew plates and cups around so quickly, the mess hall looked like a delicious hurricane. Raven was brought a plate of chicken fingers and fries along with a glass of sprite but Raven wasn't hungry. She was too busy looking over as Jason laughed and joked with Dakota and Gwen and the rest of the fifth. They might not have had the prestige the first did but they seemed to be having fun at least. She sat back and pouted miserably as the first milled around and gossiped. Welcoming her to the first. Saying how if Octavian had stood for her she must be really special. _No!_ She wanted to shout_ I made the mistake of giving him a stupid book! _

Mostly she just felt homesick. She wished she was back at camp half blood. Without all these stupid legions and cohorts. If Luke was here he would have cracked a joke about Octavian's too-loose armor and made fun of this skinny white boy to make her feel better. If Annabeth was here, she would spout some fun fact about Rome and promised her they'd kick some roman butt during the war games. Connor and Travis who were like brothers to her would already be planning some prank. And oh gods Percy. She missed him the most.

Suddenly the mess hall felt too crowded.

She stood up and almost got hit by a flying dish. She ducked and rushed out of the mess hall. She sat outside and it took a moment for her to catch her breath. She hated this. She wish Annabeth were there, that girl always had a way of helping her stay strong. They had had a fight last summer but they had made up quickly enough. Raven had snapped at Annabeth but later explained she was just shaken over what had happened to Percy and hadn't meant what she had said. Now they were closer than before and Raven missed her more than anything.

Raven was startled out of her sadness by a sudden shimmering in front of her. An Iris message. She yelped and looked around to see if anyone was looking. Everyone was in the mess hall. She walked around the corner and answered. She nearly jumped out of her skin when Percy was on the other end.

"Percy!" She squeaked, "What are you- why are you-!?"

"Oh thank the gods, Raven!" He said, "There you are! You don't know how happy I am to see you!"

Raven fought back a heavy blush.

"Where are you!? Camps a mess, Chiron was fired! Malcolm, he poisoned Thalia's tree, the borders- oh gods there's so much to tell you. You need to get over here."

"Percy...I can't.." She said miserably, "Trust me if I could I would but I can't."

"What do you mean you can't? Camp needs you. I need you. Annabeth needs you. We all need you. We need as many people as we can get."

"Percy you don't need me..." Raven said.

"Sure we do!" Percy countered.

"No you don't," Raven insisted, "You'll fix it. I know you will."

"Come on Rave, for me?" Percy asked. Raven had to bite back her angry. How could he be so sweet to her, Say he needs her, say he was happy to see her when he was in love with Annabeth. Or at least would be.

"Percy." She said, "I will be there when I can. For now I have things to do here."

"Raven, please."

"Percy stop it!" She snapped, "You can handle this on your own like a big boy. You don't need me!"

Percy looked back at her shocked and a little bit hurt but Raven's heart ached too much for her to care, "Oh and stop being a wuss about having a baby brother! It's not a curse it's a blessing, so start treating it like it is!"

"Wait, how did you-" But Raven waved her hand through the image and Percy disappeared. She sunk to her knees and tried not to cry. Percy didn't need her... Percy would never need her. Why was she even here?

"Raven? Raven are you out here?" She heard Jason calling her and Raven quickly rose to her feet and wiped her cheeks.

"O-over here!" She called back. Jason turned the corner.

"Oh there you are," He said. "Is something wrong? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine."

"Good," Jason gave her a small smile, "You left pretty suddenly, and I thought I'd check on you. I know being a new recruit is tough, but hang in there."

"Why are you being so nice to me?" Raven blurted out.

Jason blinked in surprise. Raven felt pretty awkward. She was redeveloping that stupid habit again. She messed with her blue choker; it had a calming effect on her. It made her think of the time Percy had protected her at the gateway arch in st. Louis and holding hands underwater with him. She looked down at her feet and Jason rubbed the back of his neck, his cheeks had turned pink.

"I don't know," Jason shrugged, "I guess it's just that I can sense something about you. Like I can trust you. I don't know if that makes any sense but I just have this feeling that we're supposed to be friends. Like we're supposed to be watching each other's backs."

"Yea...no it makes sense to me, I get that feeling too" Raven agreed, "And I'd really love to be your friend, Jason, I just don't get why a guy like you would want anything to do with someone like me."

Jason smiled a little, "What do you mean? Someone like you seems pretty great to me. Not that I know you all that well but sometimes I can just tell."

"Thanks," Raven smiled a little.

"Hey war games will be starting soon. Come on, let's go back inside."

Raven nodded and followed Jason back inside. The talk only made Raven feel more horrible. Jason Grace trusted her. He trusted her and she was blatantly lying to him. She'd lied to him about being Roman and lied about where she was from and who her friends were. She was lying about Camp Half-Blood and everything. Still he trusted her so easily. She knew Jason never lied. He never broke promises because of his mother's broken promise when he was little. How could she lie to someone like that? Sometimes she really hated being the bringer of hope. It came with a blanket of lies she had to tell in exchange for being here. In exchange for friends and being a hero, she was a liar.

As soon as they walked in a horn blew and Cameron yelled over the crowd, "May the games begin! Everyone join your cohort and report to the fields of Mars."

The room exploded into cheers. Raven turned miserably to look at Jason who looked back sympathetically before patting her shoulder and jogging off to join the fifth. Raven grabbed her helmet and joined her the first. Octavian found her in the crowd. He was still clutching her book. She was pretty sure he hadn't put it down since she handed it to him.

"Hey, new recruit," He gave her a crocodile smile. The hair on the back of Raven's neck stood on end. She wrinkled her nose at him, but if he noticed he didn't let on, "Wars games should be fun. You looked down during dinner but trust me, once you see what comes along with being part of the first you'll thank me. So in advance you're welcome"

"Oh yea? Well you can take that welcome and stick it up your-"

"Octavian!" Someone called from up front, "Come on."

Octavian turned and beckoned for Raven to follow. "Come on, Blouse, The fields of Mars await."

Raven growled but followed. She caught a few kids from other cohorts giving her sympathetic looks. Others gave her glares, like she might actually be this clown's friend. _Never,_ She promised herself; _never will I ever be this guy's friend_.

Since she was in the first Raven and the rest of her cohort along with the second got to hide inside this big castle like structure. Once they got inside the cohort started dividing up into team. Some went outside to defend and others were in charge of protecting the banners. That was the cushy job everyone seemed to want. The people who sat around and play mythomagic.

Someone shoved a sword into Raven's hands,

"Here you go, probatio," they sneered, "Go guard."

Apparently it didn't take long for the first and second to go from patting you on the back to sneering. Raven frowned and took the sword from their hands. Fine she didn't mind getting her hands dirty. Unlike some people.

But apparently Octavian had other ideas because he snatched the sword from Raven's hands and shoved it back at the boy who gave it to her. His crazy blue eyes intense, "Jared, why don't you go guard. I stood for Raven therefore she stays here with me to guard the banners."

Jared growled and took the sword before storming off.

"Why'd you do that?" Raven growled, "I can look after myself. I'm not some stupid damsel in distress. Back. Off."

"I stood for you maybe you should treat me with some gratefulness? Some respect?"

Raven laughed, "Gratefulness? Why should I be grateful? Jason was supposed to stand for me not you."

"Jason? And join the fifth? What then? The fifth is a bunch of losers, you wouldn't have gotten anywhere being in the fifth, I did you a favor." Octavian countered.

"Yea well next time," Raven jabbed a finger into his chest, "Take your favor and stay away from me."

Raven began to walk away but Octavian followed.

"Ya know I wasn't kidding when I said we could be friends."

"And by that you mean I might be useful to you. Girl shows up, heaven knows you could use the daughter of the _revenge _goddess. Not only that I gave you that book so you think, keep her close, see what she does and when it's convenient you'll use me and when you're done you'll throw me away. I know how you work. I know what you mean by friend." Raven spat.

"You know what." Octavian said shoving his sword at Raven, "You can go guard."

"Happy to," Raven shoved back his sword with enough force to knock him down, and loomed over him "But I'll use my own blade."

She pulled out Artemis in dagger form and willed it to change into a spear as tall as her. Octavian looked up at her scared for a moment like she might stab him but she just walked past him and followed the crowd of soldiers heading up to guard the deck. She was aware that everyone was staring at her but she didn't care.

She turned back one last time to look back at Octavian.

"Oh and by the way," She said, "you should think twice about crossing the daughter of the revenge goddess. You can be sure you'll regret it."

She joined the rest of the group on the tops of the barricade and the group of kids at the far edge of the fields listened as someone in the front gave some pep talk. She was sure it was Jason and it seemed to work because the group let out a cheer that Raven could hear all the way from the eastern wall of the barricade. Jason sure was something else. He reminded her so much of Percy...She kicked herself. Why couldn't she forget?

A group of kids about forty of them advanced. The fifth. The rest hung back. They moved and formed into a circle locking their shields so they looked like a big turtle. No one seemed to be paying much attention. She looked around and tapped a kid on the shoulder.

"Shouldn't we be doing something?" She asked confused.

"Nah, we're fine," the boy said, "one got hit from the water cannons and they're down for the count unless Jason can rally them a second time. It'll be over soon enough."

Raven frowned. This was barbaric.

She watched the fifth advanced. She was supposed to be down there with them, and she would have been happy to be. She would have been honored to fight with Jason and the fifth. Standing up here with the first and second made her feel so disconnected. She watched as a couples kids to her left shouted a couple orders.

Raven jumped and squeaked as a loud boom went off and the water cannons went off with the strength of a high pressure hose times a thousand, The fifth was washed away and giant eagles swooped down to collect nearly half a dozen of the injured or passed out. The third and fourth didn't move and inch to help. Raven felt her anger bubble up in her.

"Aren't they going to help?" Raven growled pointing to the group of kids still standing at the far edge of the field.

"Nah," The boy shrugged, "Why bother, they're going to lose anyway. They're just here for the show."

"This is sick," Raven spat.

"This is Rome." The boy corrected her, before walking off.

Raven growled under her breath, "Same thing."

The games were over quickly enough. The cohorts gathered on the fields to await the rewards. Raven found Jason easily enough through the crowd. He was completely soaked and Gwen was treating a cute about his right eyes. Raven walked over.

"Hey," She said, "Oh gods are you okay?"

"Yea," He gave a small smile, "Just a small cut, no big deal. We'll get you next time. That's a promise."

"Quit moving," Gwen complained.

Cameron flew down on her pure white Pegasus, Estrellita which meant star in Spanish. Her purple cape fluttering aimlessly in the breeze, her short black hair combed back perfectly like she hadn't just been flying. She looked down over her troops. Raven wouldn't have dared say it ever, but she hated the way Cameron looked down on everyone. She had this serious look if she were eternally on the jury of a murder trial.

"Congratulations to the first and second cohort," Cameron said, "As always you have sufficiently guarded your base and I award the mural crown to Octavian, for leading the first."

Octavian beamed and Raven hated that smug grin he was wearing. Cameron handed him a small pin to put with all his others. Raven had no idea how Cameron could be as stupid as to trust this kid. She hated it. The first and second pounded their shields and Raven did the same, even though she hated it.

"Now legionnaires," Cameron's cold voice echoed over the kids, "You may go to the bath house to clean up then return to your barracks for lights out. You are dismissed."

The group broke up and Jason disappeared into the crowd. Raven looked around confused but followed the group to the barracks to change and head to the bath house. Raven walked alone. It was cold. She willed her spear to shift back into a dagger and slipped it into her belt. She followed the first cohort to their barrack.

Her stuff was waiting for her at the door and Raven quickly scooped up her backpack. She didn't like it when people touched her stuff. Especially since her books were in there. Not just any books. The Percy Jackson books. If anyone read those and realized what they were. Well, let's just say that those were probably the books Octavian really wanted. With that kind of power in the wrong hands, who knew what would happen? Raven was the only one who could handle such knowledge. Eos had recruited her just for that reason.

Octavian quickly found her as the kids filed into the building.

"I thought I told you to stay away from me." She said, shouldering her backpack.

Octavian shrugged, "I don't take orders from probatios. Come on. I'm showing you where you're sleeping."

Raven reluctantly followed, as they walked through the barracks Raven looked around, it was just a large hallway. Two doors on either side and one at the end. Some doors were open and others were closed. They ones that were open she could see lead to a large room with ten beds in each room, reach on had mosaic tile floors and the walls were covered in purple velvet like in the principia, making the rooms look like big tents. Each of the beds were spread with white sheets and blankets and pretty golden and red pillows. The rooms were obviously co-ed since kids milled around the room freely, boy and girl. Most of the kids were changing into bathing suits to go the bathhouses. Raven's face turned a deep shade of red. She'd known that Romans worshipped the human body but she didn't think they'd share them so openly... She covered her eyes and followed Octavian down the hall.

"See we're all spilt into cohorts and in the cabins we're split into barracks of ten, that's who you room with." Octavian explained, "All boy girl so I hope you aren't shy about your body- oh..."

He looked back at Raven whose face was still a bright shade of red and covering her eyes. He studied her for a second and sneered as if her discomfort amused him, which it was obvious it did. "Don't worry you'll get over it quickly enough, probatio."

"Stop calling me that," She growled.

Octavian finally reached the end of the hallway and opened the door at the very end. Two other guys stood in the middle of the room. One was the kid she had seen earlier holding the pole that stood in for the eagle and the other one was a big burly Hawaiian kid. A girl stood to the edge of the edge of the room filing her nails. Raven recognized her as Sarah the girl who had brought her to the assembly.

The room was by far the most impressive. The beds were bigger and draped in silk and the covered in about a million throw pillows and such. The bed stands seemed to be made of gold. Beautiful golden lanterns hung from the ceiling. Rugs and pillows littered the floor. She counted five beds. Half as many as any of the other rooms so space was maximized.

"This barrack's for senior officers and centurions," Octavian explained, Raven rolled her eyes. What? So he was showing off now? "You can put your stuff there. That bed's yours."

Huh? Raven raised an eyebrow skeptically at him, "What?"

"What do you mean what?"

"You just said this room is for senior officers."

"Yea? Close the door behind you." Octavian scrunched up his nose.

"I'm on probatio" Raven reminded him.

"So?" Octavian said, "Stuff there. Bed's yours. Get changed. I'm not going to live with a slob here. Don't worry I won't look. Not that there's much to see."

"Ooh, low blow, Octavian," Sarah laughed, "Come on be nice to the little probatio."

"Nice? I've been more than nice," Octavian complained.

"Come on," The big burly guy patted Octavian's shoulder, who immediately shook him off, "I'm sure we can all get along. After all it's going to be pretty hard for us all to live together if you two are going to be arguing all the time."

"Whatever," Raven and Octavian answered simultaneously and glared at each other.

Sarah helped Raven set up a makeshift curtain by her bed to change behind using one of the many silk sheets around the room and a string attached from one torch light to another. Raven was happy enough to have it since it also obscured her view of the others. Sarah giggled.

"Most Roman's aren't squeamish," She hummed, "I guess not everyone is as free as other."

_Yea well Greeks aren't pervs so it's not like I'm used to this stuff,_ raven thought to herself. She changed quickly into her usual light blue one piece and tied her hair back into a braid down her back. Raven was a good swimmer. She was on the varsity team in high school. She took off her choker and circlet and opened the curtain. To her relief everyone was dressed.

She placed her choker and circlet in her bag and zipped it closed. She'd unpack later. She was starting to get a bad feeling she would be staying for a while. She sighed and pulled on a black sweatshirt from her bag over her bathing suit. Octavian and the other guys had changed into trunks and Sarah wore a red two-piece that went with her hair.

"Ready?" She asked.

"As I'll ever be."

The baths at least were separate. It was pretty damn impressive. There was a main bath that girls crowded around, little pools off to the sides and doorways lead off in other directions towards private baths. Steam filled the air. There was no ceiling so you could still see the stars and it didn't get too hot. Sarah tugged raven along to join the other girls. The best part about it though, was the fact that everyone was hanging out, regardless of cohort and rank.

Raven spotted Cameron across the room in a black one piece only to disappear into one of the private baths. Raven wondered what the deal was with that girl. Raven was usually pretty good at understanding people but she couldn't get her head around Cameron at all.

Raven didn't have time to dwell on it because Sarah tugged her off to the baths.

Hazel was right. You hadn't lived till you had had a roman bath. Raven was completely refreshed when she made it back to her barrack. Her hair was twirled up into a towel and a towel was wrapped around her body. She fished through her bag. Luckily for her none of the others had gotten back yet so she was free to be alone. She fished her pajamas out of her bag. She frowned when she found that Eos had changed her usual red silk pjs to a black nightgown with white and blue flowers on it, lined with lace and a bow in the middle. A little too girly for raven's taste. She sighed and changed anyway. She dried out her hair and shoved her bathing suit into her bag.

Raven froze suddenly.

She wasn't alone.

She spun around only to be shoved into the wall. She winced as pain shot through her shoulder. She was pressed against the wall with so much force she squeaked. Raven looked up to see Cameron in front of her, staring down at her in hatred. She pressed the blade of her sword to Raven's throat. Her black eyes were cold and merciless.

"What's going on?" Raven squeaked.

"I think you know Raven Blouse," Cameron hissed, Letting go and letting raven drop to the floor, but keeping her sword trained on raven's neck, "That was a warning, Blouse."

"A warning?" Raven growled, "For what?"

"Don't play dumb." Cameron hissed, "I know your secret. Raven Blouse does not belong in this world."

Raven froze. Her blood ran cold and drained from her face.

"You might have Jason fooled and Octavian. You might have the camp fooled but not me. I know what you really are, and if I deem you a threat to the camp you can bet I won't hesitate with this sword next time. You've been warned, Miss Blouse."

With that the Smokey eyed girl turned on her heels, sheathed her sword and walked away, leaving Raven Wide eyed and wondering: _How is this possible? How could she possibly know my secret!?_


	23. Octavian 23

**Authors note: Hey! Sorry I haven't updated for a while I was waiting for you guys to tell me who to write. And you guys told me Octavian so here's my Octavian chapter. Hope it answers your questions. I love the thought of Octavian and Raven as roommates just cause I can't write it and not just play What is this feeling from Wicked and picture Octavian as Glinda and Raven as Elphaba and laugh my butt off. Anyway enjoy!**

As Octavian lay and bed he couldn't help but weigh the pros and cons of that day. Decide whether that day was a win or not. But the more he thought about it the more he figured that this day definitely was not a win. When he got up this morning he wouldn't have guessed that he'd have such a bad day. It was sunny out and as always he felt as though he ruled the camp, which in time he would. Cameron would give her position up in a year to head to college seeing as how she was nearly 19 now. Naturally someone would have to take her position and Cameron didn't trust anyone as much as she trusted Octavian. So naturally Octavian had woken up on the top of the world. Or at least at the top of temple hill. He barely ever slept in the barracks. He preferred to sleep in the Jupiter temple where his powers of prophecy were strongest.

That day there were supposed to be the war games and of course as always he would win and add to his collection of medals. He'd rip open some bears read their entrails. Yup just a normal day for Octavian. That was before she showed up. It was midday when he heard the whispers. "Did you see her!? She was like a goddess in disguise!" One girl was saying "I heard that she even caught Jason Grace off guard! She nearly impaled him with an arrow!" Another kids had said. "Whoever she is I heard a goddess sent her here! It's that amazing!?"

Octavian usually didn't listen to gossip unless he could use it to his advantage so when he heard of this pretty girl dropped off at camp by a goddess he couldn't help but take an interest. He got together his best specimens and prepared to read what the gods had to say about this girl.

Now then the pros and cons of that day? First for the pros, he had seen Cameron that day. She was running around making preparations for the homecoming dance. One of camp Jupiter's less...um, 'tasteful' events. Octavian had seen Carson passed out on the lawn a few minutes ago so Cameron was on her own. As he passed Gracie he turned to her "Your brothers passed out somewhere go take care of that would you Grace?" She looked mortified and rushed off. Octavian approached Cameron who was talking to Dakota. He marched up and caught a few words of what they were saying.

"She seems like trouble to me but I don't know. Jason seems to trust her. She was a better shot than some of the Apollo kids, she was prettier than some of the Venus kids but she was guarded. Like she had something to hide..." Cameron held up her hand for silence as she saw Octavian walking over.

"What's this about better than the Apollo kids? I'm certain that's an over exaggeration..." Octavian gave a smile and hoped Dakota would get the message 'get lost.' Luckily he did and stoked off.

"Is there something you need Octavian? I need to go meet this new camper that the whole camp seems to be making a fuss about but if you need something," She looked him up and down regarding him coldly, "I can make time..."

Octavian was never sure whether this girl hated him or liked him. Her looks suggested that she hated him; her words suggested otherwise which left Octavian with a lack of what to think. No one ever knew quite what to think about Cameron. "I was just wondering if I could get your thoughts on what I suggested previously."

Cameron sighed, "Octavian you know what I think. Heading to the ancient lands in forbidden. I can't risk our augur getting hurt for some books."

"Yes but these aren't just any books!" Octavian argued. Cameron looked at him annoyed for a moment before sighing again like this argument was getting old which Octavian had no doubt it was. They had been discussing this for weeks. He had finally built up enough of a bond with Cameron to ask about the quest for the books of prophecy. Or at least he thought he had built up a bond. Like he said one could never tell with Cameron.

"I'll think about it," She said. That was what she always said.

At least it wasn't a no, so he counted it as a pro. Another pro was that he had won the war games that night as always. Unfortunately those were his only two pros. The rest of the things that happened to him that day were cons.

For example:

Showing up late to read the entrails for this new girl = Con

What he read in said entrails = Con

Conversation with new girl = Con

Standing for new girl to join the first cohort = Con

Getting knocked down in front of troops = Con

Offering new girl to share a barrack with him = Con

Are you getting the picture? Octavian had not had a fun day. Especially having met this new girl. _Raven..._What everyone had said was true. She was really something. She was a pain in the butt. He used to love camp and the first cohort but now he didn't know if he couldn't stay here with her around. She was the worst thing that could have happened to him or his status or his mission to rule the camp. She was such a distraction! Before that day he had been completely focused on ruling the camp and now he couldn't do that because she made him too damn...happy! Or no...sappy was a better term... Could he use the term head over heels without sounding like a lovesick schoolgirl? Oh well. Too late cause that kind of described his current state perfectly.

But that wasn't the point. Falling in love was not part of his plan. He was going to rule the camp he was going to be on top and rule the way Rome deserved to be ruled. That was the plan. None of this frilly girly stuff. Throughout the day he wasn't exactly sure what he was doing. Was he trying to be nice? Was he trying to drive her away? A mix of both? Heck if he knew. All he knew is that his brain seemed to be arguing. Whenever she was around he couldn't help but try and impress her, only to come off as a jerk in her eyes. When he got a chance to step away he scolded himself. He couldn't be focusing on girl. No matter how pretty...or amazing...or powerful...or brave...or independent...he had a point with this right? Dang.

Octavian lay in bed. He had no idea what he was thinking inviting Raven to join his barrack. He couldn't sleep at all. She was right over there. She looked even prettier when she had just gotten out of the bath. Her black hair somehow seemed darker. Her lips were redder and her cheeks were more flushed and her fair skin was so pale...

_Stop it!_ He ordered himself. This was so stupid. He wasn't supposed to like her. She was rude and yelled at him and pushed him. Besides that she spent way too much time with that good for nothing piece of trash Jason Grace. But still how fierce and independent and fearless she was...she was just so _Roman. _

Octavian grabbed his pillow and exited the barrack making his way to temple hill. There was no way he would get any sleep here. And it was all her fault.

Octavian woke up in a pile of stuffed animals as usual. Jupiter's Temple was practically his home. He rubbed his eyes, the sunlight glittering off the giant Jupiter statue. It radiated power. It was one of his favorite things about camp. Temple hill was a constant reminder of the powers of the gods. He would be that powerful someday. Someday after he'd become praetor the gods would offer him immortality. And he'd obviously accept.

His eyes drifted down to the foot of the statue where his stuff for reading entrails usually stood. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he noticed his stuff wasn't the only thing that stood at the foot of the statue.

Raven glared at him from across the temple, radiating almost as much power as Jupiter. She wasn't dressed in Greek robes today but she was just as pretty. She wore a white tank top blue hoodie and jean shorts with knee socks. Her black curls were pulled into a ponytail as she looked at him, her startling blue eyes flashing with fierce emotion.

"You sleep here?" She scoffed, "I should have known."

Octavian looked annoyed. What was that supposed to mean? Was it so bad that he slept there sometimes? It was her fault anyway. "What do you want?" He groaned, trying and failing not to sound rude.

"I want to know what you saw in those entrails about me." Raven said, "What did you tell Cameron?"

"Huh?" Octavian looked at her as she glared at him accusingly, "I didn't tell Cameron anything. And what I saw in those entrails is my business."

"But it was about me so it's actually my business. And I know you told Cameron something. You must have. There's no other good explanation other than you trying to turn her against me." She hissed. There she went again being headstrong. But that just meant she was confident and knew what she wanted, right?

"If you're talking about her attitude and those death glares," Octavian yawned, "She does that to everyone."

"No!" Raven said rubbing her shoulder. "It's not that!"

"Then what is it?" He asked raising an eyebrow.

"That's none of your concern!" She growled, "Just tell me what you saw in your teddy bear that Cameron hated so much."

"Nothing!" Octavian lied, "It just said that you were a loyal roman soldier and could benefit the legion. That's it. Geez."

"You're lying." Raven growled.

Of course Octavian was lying. Like he would tell anyone what he actually read. Everything he had seen told him that Raven's showing up was a bad omen. That she didn't belong here. Not just at camp but in their world in general. Like she was some monster. Normally he would have no problem reporting that to the legion but this time, for the first times, he was sure the gods were wrong. Raven was a normal girl. A pretty girl. A perfect girl. But still just a girl there was no way she didn't belong here. Whatever that meant. Besides she'd given him that book so it was the least he could do to just forget what he had read.

"I'm not lying just get out of here and make yourself useful would you?" Octavian snapped back, "Unless you want to stay here and help me do augur stuff all day?"

He raised an eyebrow hopefully but Raven rolled her eyes and walked off rubbing her shoulder. He wondered what had happened between her and Cameron. Whatever it was Raven seemed upset. He'd have to confront Cameron about it later. They thought of someone threatening Raven knotted his stomach.

He watched her disappear down temple hill before turning back to his temple. He grabbed another teddy bear from his pile and ripping it open. It wasn't like he was looking for anything particular he was mainly just bored. Besides ripping things open was rather therapeutic sometimes. He hoped today wouldn't be as much as a disaster as yesterday. Falling for Raven caught him off guard and not in a good way.

That's when things went dark.

Suddenly the Jupiter statue stopped glittering in the morning light. Clouds covered the camp faster than should have been naturally possible. Thunder rolled across the valley. Dry lightning flashed. Something was going on. Octavian jogged down to the hill to where the legion was starting to gather. Something was going on. Something big.

Octavian pushed his way through the crowd to where he found Cameron and Carson stood. Cameron glowered at the sky like she was ready for it to attack. Carson stood with his little sister looking dazed like he was waiting for it to rain. Gracie looked terrified. When Octavian saw what they were all looking at he gasped. A large ball of darkness and shadows had manifested in the middle of camp, crackling with lightning and glowing red faintly. The air was thick with dread but not only that. Rage and anger rippled its way through the crowd, the feeling of injustice made Octavian's insides flip.

Across the crowd he spotted Raven standing with a hard expression on her face. Next to her Jason stood firm and frigid, like a statue. Octavian couldn't help but notice the hand he'd placed on Raven's shoulder. Maybe it was the rage in the air or the fact that he was also noticing that Raven wasn't making any attempt to move it but the gesture made him sick with anger, but he didn't attempt to move.

The glowing ball of shadows in the center of the crowd glowed a deeper shade of red, brighter and brighter until the whole crowd had to look away. When the glow died down Octavian dared to look back at the spot in the center of the crowd. As soon as he looked up he knew today wouldn't be any better than yesterday. Maybe even worse.

In the center of the crowd stood a ten foot tall woman with black hair and pale skin. She wore a black roman toga with a belt with a whip attached to it. Her dress was edged with red and although she was beautiful she radiated anger and injustice. Octavian wasn't one hundred percent sure how to react so when Cameron knelt in front of the goddess Octavian took the cue and did the same. So did everyone else.

Well almost everyone.

Raven still stood standing. Completely unafraid. Instead she looked a little embarrassed and peeved. Her cheeks were red and she stood there with her arms folded. Octavian wanted to tell her to kneel already but he didn't say anything.

"Roman demigods!" The goddess' voice boomed over the valley, "One among you has invoked my wrath upon your camp! Revenge shall be served!"

Octavian's heart thunked. Lighting flashed across the sky and the dark clouds in the sky swirled. Wind whipped Octavian's hair into his face. Cameron looked up at the goddess before them. Her voice was a lot weaker compared to that of the goddess but she still managed to speak.

"Pax-Nemesis?" She said a hint of question in her voice.

The goddess turned to glower down the Cameron. "Cameron Phan, Praetor of the twelfth legion."

"Yes" Cameron bowed her head, "I don't understand...What have we done to invoke your anger? We will set it right immediately."

"Of course you do not understand!" The goddess boomed, and the wind howled, "One among you has taken something from me! Such disrespect! I shall have my revenge!"

"Taken something from you?" Cameron stuttered. Octavian had never seemed Cameron loss her nerves but right now in front of this towering goddess screaming at her, she looked terrified. "Taken what? None of my soldiers would have stolen anything-"

"None of your soldiers would have stolen anything!?" Nemesis howled, "Don't make me laugh! My scales have been taken! The very balance of our world. All the luck of the human race has been taken from my control! I know a roman solider from this camp has taken it! And you dare tell me that your soldiers would have stolen anything!?"

Cameron looked panicked not sure what to say.

"Return the thief and the scales to me so I can have my revenge or I shall take out my rage on your whole camp!" Nemesis howled, "You have a week to do so or you will regret ever crossing the revenge goddess."

Octavian looked at the enraged goddess. She wasn't kidding this was a big deal and the camp was going to be in serious trouble if they didn't return those scales. What scales was she talking about?

Shadows began to form around Nemesis but then a call came from the crowd.

"Wait!" Raven called, "Mom!? What's this about scales now?"

Nemesis looked behind her and did a doubt take obviously noticing Raven for the first time. The wind stopped completely and so did the thunder and lightning and the sky seemed to clear a little bit. "Wait...Raven? What are you doing here?" Nemesis shrunk in size till she was about six feet tall. She looked at raven confused.

"What am I doing here? What are you doing here?" Raven folded her arms across her chest.

"What does it look like I'm doing? Revenge goddess stuff. Threatening the demigod who took my stuff." Nemesis said as if this were obvious.

"Well I can see that!" Raven scowled, "I mean what this about scales. You can't just stay your scales are stolen and disappear! How am I supposed to help just going off that?"

"Don't be silly that's plenty to go off of! Demigods have gone off that for centuries." Nemesis insisted, "Besides I thought you were, ya know..._back east._"

"Oh yea," Raven scoffed, "I thought so too. Take it up with aurora. Tell her I would very much like to go _back east." _

"Oh...Well," Nemesis looked confused and scratched the back of her head, "Uh, It's good to see you..? I guess."

"Good to see you too mom." Raven said enthusiastically. "I'll see what I can do about your scales. Next time just call."

"Not likely," Nemesis said, turning away from her daughter, "Revenge!" The wind picked up Nemesis grew in size, and the sky darkened. Nemesis glowed red and Octavian and the rest of camp blocked their eyes as Nemesis Disappeared.

As she left the sky went back to sunny once more and the camp burst into loud conversation and whispers. All eyes were staring at Raven. Octavian stared at her. She was really _something. _She had just spoken out against an angry goddess and basically told her to take a chill pill. Granted that goddess was her mom but still. That was pretty amazing. Besides that she had just told Nemesis that she intended to fix it herself.

But aside from Raven was awesome Nemesis' visit meant that someone in their camp was a traitor and had stolen from a goddess. The question now was who? And why? And where we're Nemesis' scales now?


	24. Octavian 24

Octavian

There were so many whispers in the clearing Octavian couldn't hear himself think. This annoyed him because he very much liked to hear himself think. He would rather listen to his own opinions on the matter than the opinions of the rest of these fools. But when he was able to grasp at his own thoughts only one came to him: Go find Raven. His eyes scanned the crowd but the spot where Raven had been standing with Jason was now vacant. He had lost her.

Octavian sighed in frustration and pushed a few kids out of his way as he made his way through the crowds. He made it to the edge and something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. A figure crossing the clearing, jogging back to the barracks. Raven. He'd found her.

Octavian rushed off to follow her as she slipped into the First's barrack.

He finally found her in their room. He pushed open the door and watched as Raven stuffed things into her bag that never seemed to get full. He looked down at her.  
"What are you doing?" He raised an eyebrow. Raven jumped before meeting his eyes in a glare. Octavian glared back; it was either that or blush so naturally he choose the option that didn't make him look like a fool. Those blue eyes were so intense. He shook his head.

"I'm packing. I'm going to find my mom's scales," Raven explained, Octavian looked back at her confused.

"How do you know they aren't at camp," He asked. It was reasonable to believe if the trader was still at camp the scales would be too. Raven looked back at him as if he were stupid.

"This person is almost definitely working with Malcolm... and if that's true they wouldn't be stupid enough to stash the scales here..." Raven said. _Well,_ Octavian thought,_for once I have no idea what's going on... _

"Who?" He asked.

"Someone you'll never have to worry about," Raven said shouldering her bag, "but good news for you. I'm leaving. I'll find the scales return them to mom and find your traitor. Everyone wins. My mom gets her scales, I foil one of my enemy's plots, and no Romans are harmed in the making of this quest. Plus you never have to see me again! Which is my win."

Octavian scowled. Why did she think he hated her so much...? Okay yea...he could see how she would think that but still. He definitely wanted to see her again so she couldn't leave on some quest. Especially not alone.

"Who says I don't want to see you again. Besides if you go missing I'd get in trouble. I stood for you meaning if something happens to you I have to take responsibility. Besides you can't go on a quest. To lead a quest you need to be at least a centurion and you need to bring two people with you."

Raven cursed under her breathe. Octavian puffed out his chest. He loved it when he was right. But as always Raven made it her mission to take him down a peg.

"Oh don't get big headed! I'll just ask Jason to go with me and then maybe Dakota or that or Gwen or anyone really. That's all." Raven shrugged shouldering her bag. Octavian glowered. He couldn't let Raven and Jason go on a quest alone. Jason obviously liked her.

Octavian was used to losing to Jason. Everyone trusted Jason, everyone liked Jason. Jason got everything he wanted just because he was the son of Jupiter. But this was one thing he wasn't about to let the golden boy take away from him. Not on his watch.

"Hey! What about me! I want to go too!" He growled, "I'm a centurion too."

"Yea but the difference is I don't hate Jason."

Octavian stopped. Annoyed? Sure. Mad at? Absolutely. Sick of? Yup. But Hated? Octavian didn't really think Raven hated him. Not really. He was almost hoping she secretly liked him too. Although that had just been a subconscious hope of his. He hadn't even done anything that bad to her. He had done way worse to others.

Blackmail, bribes, manipulation. Anything to get himself what he wanted. Those fools didn't deserve anything better but he wouldn't even think of doing that sort of thing to Raven.

Okay maybe he would...But he just wanted her to rule the camp with him. So why did she hate him?

Octavian was pulled out of thought when Raven spoke up.

"What's wrong with you? What's with the look?" Raven raised an eyebrow at him. He hadn't realized how pathetic he had looked until he caught a glance of himself in one of Sarah's mirrors hanging up.

"Nothing's wrong geez. Mind your own business probatio." He growled. Raven rolled her eyes. "And I'm going on the quest with you whether you like it or not."

"Why? You don't like me anyway! Just leave me alone"

"I won't. I stood for you."

"I never wanted that!"

"It doesn't matter what you want!" Octavian shouted. It came out harsher than he'd meant. What was wrong with him? He was great with words. He could turn an entire legion with his words. So why did this girl screw him up so bad? It was maddening. But even more maddening was the look Raven was giving him. Her eyes were narrowed at him in a sharp glare. Her eyes were strong and cold. But...her hands were shaking.

Was she scared of him? Why would she be scared, he just yelled at her...It wasn't like they hadn't been yelling at each other this whole time. Was it something he'd done different or had she been scared of him this whole time and he was just now noticing?

How evil did she think he was?

It was strange. He had never felt quite like this before but for the first time he felt...incredibly...Selfish.

The two of them were silent for a long time. Neither of them broke the silence. They stood there in, Raven glaring at him Octavian's expression a mixture of confused and regretful. Whether Raven sensed the regret or not he didn't know.

It was the fifth Legion centurion that shattered the silence. Jason poked his head in the Barrack and the two of them looked away from each other and turned their heads towards him. Out of the corner of his eyes Octavian saw Raven relax.

"What do you want, grace?" Octavian growled.

"Um, Cameron's called an emergency Senate meeting. We need you."

Octavian scoffed. That was something he liked hearing the golden boy say 'We need you.' He never heard that from anyone around here. He couldn't wait to be a praetor. That would be all he'd hear all day. 'Octavian we need you.'

"Raven, Cameron wants you there too." Jason said. Raven stood up straighter and walked over to take her place by Jason's side without even glancing back at Raven.

The three of them walked out of the barracks and headed to New Rome. Octavian led the way. He could see Carson and Cameron ahead and was tempted to go talk to them but he didn't want to leave Jason and Raven alone together. They were already talking. Jason's voice was serious.

He was always calm and serious when something like this came up. He guessed that's why so many people looked to him in emergencies. That was so unfair. Octavian always knew what to do, but no one bother to ask him. Every time Octavian looked at Jason he was reminded how he wasn't going to be handed anything. Not like Jason. He was handed everything. The best quests, the best positions...About the whole first cohort offered to stand for him when he joined the legion. Yet Jason didn't appreciate any of it. He always took the least glamorous quests and put up this whole modest golden boy act. It was infuriating. People would kill to have what he had and he took it all for granted

If Octavian wanted something he had to take it.

"Raven you didn't bring your weapon did you? Cause no weapons are-"

"Allowed over the Pomerian Line. I'm not an idiot Octavian." Raven huffed putting her hands on her hips.

Octavian opened his mouth to ask how she knew that but he closed it. She was mad enough at him without him poking her. He could still see her shaking hands when he closed his eyes. He didn't even know what he'd done to make her feel like that. It was safe to say he'd been a jerk but it wasn't as if he was very intimidating.

That selfish feeling burned in his chest...

As always New Rome was the most beautiful place in the world. The tiled roofs and gold domes gleamed in the low light on the moon and Gardens bloomed with honeysuckle and roses. The central plaza was paved in white and gray stone, decorated with statues, fountains, and gilded columns. In the surrounding neighborhoods, cobblestone streets were lined with freshly painted town houses, shops, cafés, and parks. In the distance rose the coliseum and the horse racing arena. He was proud to say his family practically owned this place. Or were close anyway. Octavian had grown up here and it was his home.

That was the main reason he wanted to be preator so bad. He wanted to become powerful enough to protect this place. He didn't want to entrust that job to anyone else. If he was praetor the People of New Rome could be sure that they were safe.

Terminus was shouting from the city line to have your IDs out and get into a single file line. Octavian turned to Raven to explain who Terminus was but when he did, he was surprised to see Raven wasn't behind him anymore. He turned to see Raven with that dazzling smile on her face already talking to the armless statue god.

"Ah you're the beautiful Raven Blouse the camp has been talking so much about." Terminus was saying, "From what I hear you're quite the impressive young lady."

Octavian stood there shocked. Terminus didn't take a liking to anyone that quickly. In fact Terminus didn't take a liking to anyone period.

"Oh I'm not sure about that!" Raven gushed, "After all the impressive ones are the mighty gods such as yourself. Guarding the borders is such an important job. It's an honor to meet such a powerful god. I'd like to thank you personally for the fine job your doing protecting the people of New Rome"

Octavian rolled his eyes. Powerful and Impressive? Octavian had a way with words but even he could have gotten through that speech with a straight face. He could even see Jason behind her trying not to laugh but failing miserably. Octavian groaned and held out his tattooed arm for Terminus shooting a glare at Jason and Raven.

"Come on you two emergency senate meeting doesn't mean optional." He snapped. Raven shot him a glare before bowing politely to the god and following.

For the first time that day Octavian felt a glimmer of happiness as he showed Raven around New Rome for the first time. Cameron had walked by and asked to talk to Jason in private. Usually Cameron taking special interest in Jason would have made him mad but Octavian felt relief when Jason left him and Raven alone.

Raven's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree at the sight of New Rome. The buildings, the art, the mosaics, she seemed to love it all. It wasn't surprising. That was the way all new demigods acted when they saw the city. She was smiling like a maniac. Octavian knew that look. Sometimes he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror and saw himself sporting that grin, although people thought it was creepy on him, but on her it was adorable.

She even let him buy her hot chocolate on the way over to the senate meeting so Octavian was pretty much on cloud nine. Octavian took a seat with the other centurions in the front row as Cameron and Carson stood up in front of the crowd and waved Raven over. Raven put on a determined face and joined Cameron and Carson on the dias.

Octavian was never invited to stand up front.

Cameron raised her hand for silence and everyone shut up. Octavian looked at the faces of the other centurions to read their expressions. He wanted to get a read on how everyone felt about all this. Most of them just seemed scared or worried.

Fear. Fear was good. Octavian could work with fear.

"Now," Cameron said, "this is an emergency meeting so let's get started right away. As you all know we got paid a visit today by a goddess. Nemesis. She claims something has been stolen by one of us. Our newest recruit Raven here has promised the goddess she personally will see it returned."

Everyone murmured nervously. Octavian could sense the tension. This made everyone nervous. The new girl promising such a favor to a god. He knew everyone would have been way more comfortable if an experienced Legionary had offered instead. They barely knew Raven. They didn't trust her.

"Silence." Cameron didn't even need to raise her voice to get the others to be quiet. Cameron shot a glare at Raven. "Let's see what Raven has to say about the matter."

Raven seemed a little caught off guard but she stood at the podium and cleared her throat. She took a deep breath.

"Um...hi?" Raven said nervously. Octavian mentally groaned. Raven obviously knew nothing about public speaking. She had to be confident. Nervousness while being cute didn't help her convince the others she was suited for this quest. She continued, "Well, Nemesis is my mother as most of you know...and she is the goddess of revenge. So it's no surprise she'd want to take revenge on someone who has stolen from her...But from what I've read on these scales, if we don't get them back then Nemesis is the least of our worries. Whoever stole these scales is an enemy of the legion and Nemesis's scales have the power to turn the tide in their favor. If our enemies had this in their possession we are almost certain to lose..."

There was a moment of silence before chaos settled over the senate.

Octavian face palmed. _Yes_ he thought let's scare an already scared crowd Raven..._That's exactly how you get them on your side. _

Raven looked around nervously; even Cameron couldn't get the crowd to shut up. Octavian sighed and rose from his seat and approached Raven at the Podium. He leaned in and whispered in her ear.

"Is this your idea of getting people on your side? Let me handle this," He whispered.

"I don't need your help Octavian," She hissed

"Sure you don't" He said taking the microphone. Raven didn't argue.

"My fellow Legionaries," Octavian announced and everyone silenced and turned towards him, "What my friend here means to say is that whoever this traitor is plans to cut us down and defeat us by using cheap tactics. You may think that now that he has these scales make him powerful but I know that makes him weak. He's seen our strength and he knows the only way to defeat us is magic. I say we don't let him. We are more powerful than him and we are more powerful than anyone."

Octavian smiled as the senate cheered at this.

"What Raven is proposing is a quest to return the goddess' favor to us and taking away what little hope this traitor has before we cut him down. Raven trusts in the strength of our legion and I suggest we all support her in her efforts to prove it."

Another cheer.

Cameron took the stand giving Octavian an approving nod. Octavian broke out into a grin. Cameron only ever gave Jason that look... He beamed with Pride as he took his seat. Cameron smiled as she took the stand.

"Since we're all in agreement there shall be a quest," Cameron announced, "But Raven being a probatio so I ask our one of centurions to lead the quest"

Octavian stood up once again "I will."

Octavian's eyes flew open when he heard two voices instead of just his own. He turned and locked eyes with Jason Grace who was standing as well and glaring right back at him. Octavian put on his best _Now be reasonable _face and turned to Cameron.

"Cameron," He said, "It's only natural that I lead this quest since I've been a centurion for longer, not to mention joining the Legion before Jason. I have more experience than he does."

Cameron shrugged looking from one boy to the other, "I don't see why both of you can't join Raven on this quest but Octavian does make a good point so I think it makes sense that he should lead the mission."

Jason and Octavian glared at each other, as they joined a depressed looking Raven on the stage. Octavian folded his arms. Great... The last thing he wanted was to go on a quest with the camp golden boy but he'd had a feeling that was what was going to end up happening.

"Do you three know where you're going?" Cameron asked, "What are your plans for this quest?"

"Well," Raven spoke up, "There's a boat...The Andromeda. I think your traitor is friends with an old enemy I met on my travels... If this is true there's no doubt that they've taken the scales there."

Cameron raised an eyebrow, "And you know where this boat is"

"If we time it correctly," Raven said, "I know exactly where it is."

Octavian expected Cameron to argue with her. Cameron hated not knowing thing's for sure. She hated not having a plan but instead Cameron just pursed her lips and nodded. "Very well," she said. "Nothing remains except for us to vote on how to support this quest."

After a bit of negotiating Octavian had managed to get them more than enough supplies and weapons and transportation then the three of them could possibly need. He was beaming by time the three walked out of the senate meeting. He'd done so well he'd forgotten about his sour day completely. That was...Almost completely.

Raven was muttering something under her breath.

"Stupid quest" She muttered.

"Sorry I thought you wanted a quest," Octavian countered.

Raven didn't say anything but with the look she was giving him the message was clear, _Yea I did until you decided to join us. _Octavian ignored her. He'd gotten what he'd wanted and by the end of this quest Raven would forget she'd ever hated him. She'd be practically begging to be his queen. The thought brought a smile to his face.

"Well," Octavian grinned, "Stupid or not we're leaving tomorrow. let's all get some rest."

"Octavian's right" Jason said making a face as if that were painful to say and turned towards the fifth legion's barrack "Night Raven"

"Good night Jason" Raven waved and Octavian rolled his eyes.

He marched ahead of Raven and shoved his jeans in his pockets. He couldn't wait for tomorrow. He couldn't wait for this quest. His quest. He was going to once and for all prove he was a leader. A leader worthy of becoming Praetor. A leader worthy of Raven Blouse's heart.


	25. Jason 25

Jason

It was too early for a quest. Jason had been dragged out of bed before it was even light out and he didn't get how Octavian expected him and Raven to do anything this early in the morning. He just hoped that the monsters got to sleep in instead.

Jason could have slept for another couple hours and he would have if he was the quest leader. Which he and Raven discussed. Which he and Cameron discussed on the way into the Senate meeting, so he had no idea why she'd sided with Octavian. He figured him and Raven could take Gwen or Dakota or Sarah with them. Anyone really. Anyone except that snake of an auger. Jason really didn't trust anyone as selfish and power hungry as Octavian around an object that could turn tides in his favor. Cameron shouldn't have even let him come along let along on the quest let alone lead it.

Not to say that Jason really wanted to do it himself. In all honesty a part of him was relieved he didn't have to. The last thing he wanted to do was give the camp another reason to look at him as a leader. All he'd wanted to do was help Raven get her mom's scale back and she needed a Centurion to come with her in order to embark on a quest so it just seemed like a perfect fit. There was nothing leaderly about it.

Jason didn't like to think of himself as a leader. The other campers enough of that for them and him. It was only because he was son of Jupiter. He really hated that. He didn't want to be the prince everyone expected him to be. That's why he was trying so hard to change the way people looked at him. Unfortunately nothing seemed to be working. He'd become Centurion despite his efforts and now that the rumors of Cameron's resignation as Preator had spread he'd heard more than a few whispers between campers saying he'd make a great Preator. Which was insane. He was only 13. He was the youngest Centurion at camp, he couldn't be Preator. He didn't even want to be Preator.

He forced himself to focus on what was right in front of him.

Jason fell into step with Raven and Octavian as they made their way up the hill where Terminus stood looking like he might fall sleep too. Jason pondered that for a second. Did gods even sleep? He didn't suppose they needed too as immortal beings but they might want to. Sleep was nice. Sleeping was what he should be doing at the moment. _Stop it_, Jason ordered himself, _you can sleep on the train. _

After a bit of back and forth Octavian had gotten their group Train tickets and weapons and money and enough stuffed animals to satisfy Octavian for months. Jason had seen Demigods go off on a quests ten times more important than this one with less than half the stuff Octavian had weaseled his way into getting. Jason supposed it was one of the benefits of being Octavian's friend. But then again, Jason reminded himself, no matter what the benefits of being Octavian's friend were it didn't out weight the downfall.

Not in the slightest.

Raven smiled politely at Terminus "Good morning," She said cheerfully although Jason knew she was just as tired as him, if not more so. After all she shared a room with Octavian. He shuddered at the though. He felt bad for Raven, having to share a room with that creep. He knew he wouldn't be able to sleep if he was in her position and he was pretty sure she felt the same.

Still she smiled politely and made small talk with the boundary god as he checked their IDs and asked if they 'Had anything to declare' which most no one ever did. He didn't blame them. If he were to die on a quest he didn't think he wanted his last declaration reported back to everyone at camp through the mouth of an armless god who Jason knew no one really took seriously. Terminus finished off the little encounter by patting Jason down with his eyes and wishing them luck.

_Great _Jason thought, _we can use as much of it as we can get..._

Jason fell into step with Raven as they made their way down the hill, following Octavian who was about fifty steps ahead of them. Jason offered her a smile but now that the armless god had been left behind Raven had dropped the smiley act and went back to glaring at her feet, which she'd been doing all morning.

"You should be leading this quest" She finally muttered after a moment of silence.

Jason's heart dropped just a little. Jason had always befriend the least popular people at camp in an attempt to get people to stop looking at him as a leader, so Jason didn't have a lot of close friends or anyone who he really connected with. He knew it was silly since he had only known Raven for a little but he could just feel that she was different. They connected. He guessed he'd just hoped she'd see him for who he was and not the way everyone else did. But he knew it was unfair to hold it against her so he dropped it.

"Well Octavian may think that he's leading this quest but ya know what?" Jason said, "we both know the person who ends up leading this quest is you."

Raven scrunched up her nose, "I don't know about that. I'm not a leader."

Jason nodded. He could relate.

Octavian called back to them "Would you two hurry up?! By time we get anywhere it's going to be night time!"

"Sorry to disappoint you Octavian!" Jason called back, "But it already is night time."

He gestured up at the early morning sky. Raven let out a snort and giggled which made Jason break out into a grin. Her laugh was dorky and cute, and he preferred it way more than her glaring at her own shoes.

"Ha-ha" Octavian yelled back, not laughing at all, "Keep laughing Grace and I'll make sure Nemesis wrings your neck first when you make us fail this mission!"

"Oh, I'd like to wring his neck," Raven muttered. Jason couldn't help but notice that Octavian had a real talent for killing Raven's good moods. She shoot daggers at the scrawny blond with her eyes, although Octavian seemed to have turned away and continued walking.

She sighed in exasperation and ran her fingers through her hair. Her jet black curls cascaded down from her silver circlet which looked like vines and leaves wrapping around her head. It was engraved with some ancient lettering that he couldn't read but Raven had explained that it was almost like her Coat of Arms as Bringer of Hope. Whatever that meant.

When Raven had first entered the camp in her Roman robes Jason had thought she'd looked like a princess. Now the Circlet was the only regal thing left about her, which he was thankful for. She was much less intimidating now in her purple Camp Jupiter tee and a orange hoodie.

The only thing she carried with her was that little moss green backpack yet she never really ran out of things to wear. Where did it all go? But yet again he supposed that was probably the least mysterious thing about Raven. But that was fine. That was what made her so intriguing.

After a quick bus ride into los angles the three made it to the train station and Raven promptly fell back asleep while they waited for the train. Jason and Octavian waited in silence and equal agitation. Jason and Octavian had never gotten along. Jason had always been modest and brave while Octavian was a selfish coward. They'd hated each other from the day they met and Jason imagined they'd continue to hate each other until the day they died. Jason just hoped that wasn't for long time, though as a Demigod one never knew for sure.

Jason remembered when they'd first met when Jason joined the Legion and Octavian had tried to weasel his way onto his good side, unsuccessfully. Jason was just grateful Octavian hadn't been as persistent with him as he was being with Raven. But Jason knew the harder Octavian pushed the more Raven would resent him. For a boy who supposedly knew the will of the gods he sure didn't know a whole lot about friendship. It was almost sad. But yet again Jason wasn't sure if you could call what Octavian was offering 'Friendship'.

Jason didn't even know why he wanted to go on this quest at all. Octavian hated leaving camp, and he hated Jason even more. Jason was pretty sure him and Raven weren't besties or anything so he didn't get it. What did Octavian gain by tagging along on this quest? And Jason knew as well as anybody Octavian didn't do anything unless he gained something from it.

Raven's head nodded and fell on Jason's shoulder with a soft snoring noise. Jason chuckled a little and smiled. Raven had her mysterious side, and her clever side, but Jason liked her awkward side best, it was the most relatable part of her. No matter how clever or all-knowing or powerful she seemed she still snored, and said the wrong things and got mad and happy and generally nerdy. Everyone was saying she was like a goddess in disguise but this side of Raven only proved to Jason just how human she was.

Jason blinked when he looked up at Octavian who was staring at the two of the like they'd just sinned in church. Jason raised an eyebrow at the augur "What?"

"Don't get big headed Grace," His stare turned into a sneer, "People may think you rule the camp but you're not _that _charming."

Octavian's eyes drifted down to Raven as he said the word 'that'. Jason glared at Octavian. He was such a jerk. Even if Jason did like Raven, it wasn't any of Octavian's business. Beside's Raven and him weren't like that. Sure he liked her, but as a friend. She was cool, and right off the bat the two of them had clicked. He'd only known her a few days and he already felt more comfortable around her than he did around anyone at camp.

"Do everyone a favor and tie yourself in a bag with a weasel Octavian," Jason spat.

"You gonna make me, son of Jupiter?" Octavian countered.

"Maybe I will," Jason shot back.

"Will both of you shut up I'm sleeping" Raven muttered.

The two boys glared at each other and Jason looked away with a huff and Raven made herself comfortable on his shoulder dozing off again. It wasn't a romantic gesture or anything. More of a _'Hey you're going to be my pillow for the next few minutes, deal with it'_ kind of thing. And Jason was cool with that but it was stopped short when the train pulled into the station. Raven stretched and got up.

Boarding the train Jason struggled to keep track of Raven and Octavian. Camp Jupiter was crowded sometimes but nothing like this. Finally the three of them found their seats. Jason's eyes scanned the area. The inside of the train was well lit and expensive looking. The seats were made of leather and every other row was turned backwards to create little booths to sit in, with a flimsy wooden table to separate them. The floor was lined in green carpet and above them the ceiling was made of oak and the yellow train lights reflected off it warmly. Jason sat in the seat closest to the window and Raven had slide in next to him, Octavian sat in the seat across from them.

Raven fell back asleep on Jason's shoulder for awhile and he was starting to get the feeling she hadn't slept at all the previous night. After all now that he was awake and actually on the train it became apparent to Jason just how real this quest was. Ever nerve in his body tingled.

Octavian was reading out of some leather bond book and grinning contently, ever once in awhile he'd stop and rub the binding of the book with his fingers like it was made of precious metal and stare at it, not reading, like he was deep in thought, then his face would turn red, the way it did whenever he was really mad, shake his head, furrow his brow and continue reading before starting the whole process all over again a few minutes later. Sheesh, this guy really was crazy...

Raven snored ever once in awhile and would mumble in her sleep and reposition herself every so often so Jason took to watching her after Octavian's repetitive insanity became boring to watch. After while Raven's sleeping habits bored Jason as well and he gazed out the window for awhile. Trains were so confined and small and Jason found himself wishing he was outside flying instead. As the son of the god of the sky Jason found himself less than ecstatic with the idea of being trapped in small places. He didn't know if he could take this for another hour... And this train only took them as far as Houston. Then they had a bus to catch. Which was even smaller... Jason groaned mentally.

Raven woke up a while later and poured over the map in her hand, Miami Beach circled in red marker, camp was circled in black on the other side of the map, and up in the corner she'd circled long island in yellow. It was faint like she was trying to hide it but Jason noticed it anyway. He wondered what was there. He supposed if it mattered she'd have told him.

She looked at the map then to a book in her lap and scribbled a couple notes on a piece of paper. She kept the book hidden for the most part so Jason couldn't tell what it was, he only caught glimpses of the book and the most he could tell you was that it had an orange cover with a big eye on it. She kept looking between the two boys as if suspicious then returning to the writing.

Finally she closed the book and slipped it into her bag, "I'm going to the bathroom. Don't cause a disaster or anything. Looking at you Octavian."

"Oh but Raven how can we cause a disaster when we brought the biggest walking disaster on earth onto the train with us?" Octavian smirked without looking up from his book.

"Oh shut up would you" Raven rolled her eyes.

"You started it" Octavian shrugged

"Can we please stop fighting?" Jason intervened, this argument was starting to sound more and more like two kids yelling at each other on the play ground. "We are never going to complete this quest if you two don't learn to at least tolerate each other"

"I'm sorry Jason I distinctly remember saying the same thing to you about half an hour ago," Raven smirked, but not in a mean way. He knew she was just messing with him but he still blushed realizing he had no room to talk and rubbed the back of his neck, "Anyway don't cause any trouble."

"Got it" Jason replied as she walked off.

Looking back Jason felt like a fool, because clearly he hadn't gotten it because even though the trouble caused wasn't his fault, when Raven wandered back everything had descended into chaos. And not in the good way.


	26. Jason 26

**Authors note: Okay do you ever get that feeling when someone reviews your writing and are super nice and like you feel like your actually having a conversation with that person and like their opinion matters a lot to you even though you don't have, like actual conversations? Or is that just me? Maybe... Anyway so this chapter was kinda fun to write cause I felt like getting back to confident and know-it-all and come-on-guys-it's-obvious-duh! Raven. I love her so much. Also has anyone else realized that Octavian doesn't have a last name? Like seriously Rick your making my fanfiction writing so much harder than it has to be. Jk. Anyway so I made one up for him so his full name in this fanfiction is gonna be Octavian Callidus, Callidus meaning "Clever" in Latin (Har-har irony) Anywho! I literally just spent the past few days thinking up ideas for this fic since all those old feelings and all my love for this fic just cam flooding back so I figured I might just warn y'all ahead of time: I'm evil. I don't think people understand that when I say "I'm Thinking up idead for my story" what I'm really saying is "I'm thinking up amazingly evil ways to torture my character/readers."****Hehe... Love you guys!**

**-Piper-Audrey**

Jason

Jason was not expecting lizard women to be on the train.

He had been looking over Raven's map while she was in the bathroom. Jason couldn't help but wonder if she was alright in there. She'd been gone awhile. But he had a feeling she wouldn't be too appreciative of him going to check on her so he stayed put and squinted at the picture of Long Island Raven had circled. He wondered what why that place was important. It was so out of the way Jason doubted it was relevant to the quest. He wanted to ask her what was there. Whatever it was it seemed important. But Jason got the feeling it wasn't his place to ask. Like, it was supposed be private...

He closed the map suddenly feeling like this was an invasion of Raven's privacy.

Little by little. Stop after stop people filed off the train, until Octavian and Jason were the only people left on the train aside from the Train staff who shuffled around aimlessly. Jason enjoyed the quiet just fine but he hoped Raven would return soon. Sitting there in silence with the Augur was getting more than a little uncomfortable.

Octavian had given up on reading and placed the leather book carefully in his bag. Jason had to wonder what was with him and that book. He was so careful with it; it didn't take a genius to figure out that it was important to him, if not his prized possession. He stared out the train window, snacking mindlessly on crackers. With how skinny he was Jason wondered if that was all he ever ate.

Jason fingered the golden aureus, Ivlivs, in his palm. It looked like a regular golden coin that is until you flipped it. When you did that it transformed either into Jason's double edged Imperial Gold sword when it landed on heads or a lance when it landed on tails. In both forms the weapon fit in his hands perfectly.

Out of the corner of his eye Jason watched one of the train workers, a woman with sickly pale skin with black hair wearing a blue suit like a flight attendant. (Train attendant?) She kept walking up and down the aisle. Jason might have been imagining it but she seemed to be watching him. Jason thought it was a bit odd but he didn't know anything about trains or the human world so for all he knew this was a normal routine on trains like this.

All Jason knew of the mortal world came from the few faint memories he had of his childhood. He was only two when he was abandoned at the wolf house so he didn't remember much of anything before that and what he did remember was foggy and hard to remember. The one thing he knew for sure was that they all centered around his older sister Thalia. Like the time Thalia had given up her Halloween plans with her friends to take him trick or treating for the first and last time. Or the time she'd taken him to the emergency room on her bike to get a staple removed from his upper lip. He still had the scar.

When his mother abandoned him at the wolf house Jason had lost his older sister. He had no idea what had become of her or even how to find her. He really hoped she was safe somewhere... She was the one thing he missed about the mortal world. The only things he had left of her were faded memories and a name. Losing a big sister like that...It was a pain he was sure no one else understood.

The train worker passed by their booth for the twentieth time and Jason could see he wasn't the only one watching her. Octavian's narrowed blue eyes followed her up and down the aisle as well. Jason squinted as she slowed in front of their booth. She looked at Jason and Jason's stomach did a flip.

Her eyes were bright yellow, and the pupils were jet black slits, like a Snake's...

Jason Kicked Octavian in the shin once the yellow eyed woman turned away.

"Ow!" Octavian growled, "What was that for!?"

Jason ignored him, "You saw that right?"

"The eyes?" Octavian hissed, "Yeah, but that's not a valid excuse for kicking someone...! Geez, I don't think I've seen a monster like that before...Wonder what it is..."

"I don't think we should stick around long enough to find out," Jason frowned, "We should get Raven and go..."

For once the two blondes agreed on something and nodded gathering their stuff. Jason slipped Raven's map back into backpack and Octavian throw his stuff into his purple duffle bag and shouldered it. Jason grabbed his blue backpack up in one hand and Raven's moss green one in the other.

Jason glanced over his shoulders and gulped as he saw the train worker conversing with two other women whose eyes shown bright yellow as well. He watched as one flicked a forked tongue as she talked.

Jason cringed, "Let's get out of here."

A muffled voice sounded over the intercom announcing their next stop and Jason sighed in relief. All they had to do was get Raven and sneak out before the Snake lady realized they were missing. Easy enough right?

Ha! Of course things couldn't be easy for Jason. The Parcae would die before they let that happen. And they were Immortal, so you get the picture.

Octavian and Jason rose from their seats and made their way to the back of the train car. Jason reached for the door handle and jumped in surprise when his hand was slapped away by a large green snake tail. Jason followed the tail from it tip to its owner and found himself staring face to face with a monster he'd never had the displeasure of encountering before. And to make it even better, there were three of them.

Each of them were at least 7 feet tall easy with green scaly skin and yellow snake eyes, their forked tongues flickering in and out of their mouth, which was lined with razor sharp teeth. Sprouting out from their navy blue skirts were twin snake trunks were their legs should have been. Octavian cleared his throat

"So, what do you suggest we do now, Son of Jupiter" He said in a harsh whisper

"I'm sorry I thought you were leading this quest" Jason whispered back.

Octavian looked like he wanted to say something back but seemed to think better of it. The snake lady closest to them, the one who'd been pacing the aisles, smiled. Jason would have said from ear to ear but she didn't seem to have any...

"Jassssssson Graccccce" she hissed out the 'S's, "Octavian Callidusssssss. Far from home aren't we? How foolish...The mortal world can be ssssserioussssssly dangerousssss for your kind you know."

The snake ladies behind her half hissed and half giggled.

"Sssssssso, far from home. I can only assssssssume you want to die."

Jason gulped and froze. He didn't know what to do. He scolded himself. This wasn't the first time he'd faced a monster, after all they summoned plenty of monsters on the fields of Mars before for sparing but this was different. This time if he messed up no one was going to restrain this snake woman and save him. Jason could see Octavian trying to act brave and composed but Jason knew Octavian was just as worried as him.

Damn! Jason thought to himself, why am I freaking out?

But in all honest Jason knew why he was freaking out. It happened to everyone. It was to be exacted honestly. After all what did anyone expect?

This was only his first Quest...

Jason probably would have said frozen while the snake ladies ripped him apart with their claws if it weren't for Raven. The snake ladies inched closer hiss-laughing while Jason stood there like a sitting duck and suddenly:

"Pfft,"

That snapped Jason out of it and him and Octavian turned their heads to see Raven at the other end of the train car with her hand over her mouth to keep from giggling. Jason looked confused and a little concerned. What was wrong with her? Why was she laughing? She saw the snake ladies too, didn't she?

Raven sank to her knees in a fit of giggles her eyes watering as she watched Jason and Octavian standing in front of their slithering reptilian assailants. The snake women turned to watch Raven as well in equal confusion as Raven's giggles evolved into full out Laughter.

"What'ssssss ssssssso funny, Raven Blousssse?" The snake lady demanded.

Raven stood up slowly trying to compose herself but still let out a slight snicker now and then. "I'm sooo sorry," She laugh, "I'm sorry it's just, Pfft, haha, you guy's faces!"

She pointed at Jason and Octavian. Jason was completely lost.

"Oh come on guys!" She said drawing her blade, Artemis, "you looked like you were coming face to face with the god of death! And I should know...hehe, they're Dracaena. They aren't going to kill you! I mean, they might try but seriously _Octavian _alone could take them out!"

Jason wasn't sure how he felt about that pep talk but it had done one thing, gotten rid of his fear. Raven and him locked eyes and Jason mirrored her confident smile as he flipped the golden coin in his pocket and caught his double-edged, golden sword and turned back to face the Dracaena. Octavian drew his Golden dagger.

The monsters weren't paying attention to the boys anymore though. They hissed furiously at Raven. Apparently even snake ladies hated being insulted. Raven took a deep breath composing herself and her blade morphed in her hand, growing into a bronze sword.

"Insssssssssolent child! You will pay for thissss inssssult!" One of the Dracaena screeched and lunged at her while the other two turned their attention back to Jason and Octavian.

But this time Jason was ready.

Octavian slashed at his Dracaena but he couldn't seem to get close enough to actually hit her without letting her claws scratch him. Strangely enough the standoff reminded Jason of a thumb war, Each of them inching close to the other but never close enough to actually strike or take damage and therefore there no winner.

Raven and the Dracaena who'd been pacing the aisles, (who Jason assumed was the leader) were slashing and ducking and striking at each other in a frenzy. Jason had never seen fighting quite like Raven's. In style, it was quite unroman, but in spirit it was exactly what he'd expect from any soldier in the twelfth legion. Cold and brutal, but still in a sense, graceful. The way she had that smile painted on her face was almost scary. There was no question that Raven had done this before. And she liked it. In a swift move she ran the Dracaena through with her sword who hissed in pain before dissolving into ash.

Meanwhile Jason had his own fight to deal with.

Jason swung with his sword and deflected each strike the monster threw at him with his blade and stabbing at her blue suit only to have her duck away and somehow appear at his side. For a lady whose legs were giant scaly masses she sure moved fast. When he finally stabbed her through it was an accident... he had swung his blade to the left to dodge one of her tails not realizing she had appeared right there and ran right into his sword.

He almost laughed. Raven was right. These things were nothing.

Jason turned into time to see Raven Stab Octavian's Snake lady in the back and watched her dissolve like the others. Raven looked from Octavian. Who was pouting as if to say 'I could have gotten her myself', to Jason who was grinning, his eyes shining at his dark haired friend who smiled back as if to say 'Told you so'

Finally after a moment of silence Raven laughed,

"I guess I was wrong" She giggled, "Roman's really do know how to Party!"

Jason laughed and even Octavian loosened up and cracked a smile. Suddenly the intercom sounded to life again with a fair amount of static. Jason and his companions looked up as the voice said: "Next stop, Houston Amtrak"

"Well," Octavian said, "That's us, we better get going..."

"Yea," Raven agreed. Jason followed the two as they hopped off the train and watched as Raven and Octavian started bickering again. Jason's lips curled into a small smile. He'd made it in his first fight on his first quest. It didn't matter that this wasn't what he'd expected or if this wasn't his dream team or anything.

Jason had a feeling his first quest would forever and always be his favorite.


	27. Raven 27

**Author's Note: Hey guys! So I posted this chapter a bit ago but I reread it shortly after I posted it and I decided I absolutely needed to rewrite it. There were a bunch of things that didn't line but with the previous chapter and I didn't like how I had written Annabeth in this scene and I thought I could have been more descriptive, and not to mention all the typos! I always have a few here and there but usually you can understand what I'm saying so I leave it, but this time it was really bad. I was missing names and words and I think I left out an entire paragraph at one point so I decided before I could go any further I needed to rewrite this chapter. Also to recap what I said before I got picked to be the Costume Designer for my schools drama club which is a huge honor and now that it's winter Swim team is starting up so I'm gonna be super busy. Expect updates but maybe bigger waits between the, I'm really sorry XI. Anyway here's the re-uploaded version of Raven's Chapter. **

Raven didn't think Jason and Octavian would actually get into trouble while she was in the bathroom. But all's well that ends well she supposed. Raven seriously doubted the guys would have died if she hadn't shown but it had still been pretty cool to fight Dracaena though. She'd always imagined fighting one for the first time with Percy and Annabeth at her side but she supposed Jason was a pretty cool alternative. Although it wasn't helping that it acted as a reminder that she should be heading towards the sea of monsters with her friends at the moment. Not racing to meet up with them after they got back.

Still Raven had to admit fighting like that and being on a real quest had done wonders to raise her spirits. Every fond memory Raven had of fighting alongside her friends last summer came flooding back and it made her feel at least ten times happier then than she had been since she arrived at Camp Jupiter. All this action and fighting and heroism was part of why she'd made the wish in the first place and the more she experience these adventures and quests the happier she was she made the wish in the first place.

That is if she found Kelly...

When Raven left the boys to go to the bathroom, she'd locked herself in the confined little room in the back of the train and fixed her hair in the mirror before grabbing a crystal prism from her pocket along with a plastic flashlight keychain shaped like a duck. She set these on the counter, turning on the flashlight and pointing it at the crystal to make a rainbow. She tossed a golden drachma into the multicolored light and called up Annabeth.

"Yo Annabeth!" She said as an image appeared in the rainbow. Annabeth and one of her siblings putting the finishing touches on a sweet looking chariot. Raven was hit with a sudden pang of jealousy as she realized she'd be missing Camp Half-Bloods first the chariot race. Annabeth jumped a little before turning to face Raven, giving her a withering smile.

"Raven...what's up?" she said, waving a hand at her sibling who got the message and wandered off, "heard you gave Percy an earful the other day...I suspected you might call."

"Yea," Raven rubbed the back of her neck, "heard you gave him one too... But that's beside the point... How's camp? How's the tree doing?"

Annabeth's face fell as if to say _I was afraid you might ask that,_ "Camp is... well as good as it can be with all that's happening... Everyone's on edge and Chiron was even fired. This guy Tantalus has taken his place as activities director and he's changed everything. I don't trust him... There are more than a few things off about him. Like how he stopped the border patrol..."

"Yea, I know... you guy are still doing it behind his back though, right? Like during your free time," Raven raised an eyebrow in concern.

Annabeth nodded gravely, "Yeah, we are, thanks to Luke. He organized everything and worked out a schedule so the camps completely guarded twenty-four seven. Even at night. We thought we'd have to worry about the harpies but they're just as scared as we are something's going to get in. As long as no one tried to leave they look the other way..."

"That's good..." Raven nodded, "Hey, how is Luke doing, anyway? With how close you all were... how's he taking it?"

Raven knew that Luke was the one who'd poisoned Thalia's tree in the books but now that he was on the other side of things she was more than a little worried about how he was taking the whole ordeal. Raven hoped that Luke wasn't suffering too much but she got a funny feeling now Thalia's last remaining life force draining away it wasn't just the magical barrier surrounding the camp that was withering but her friend's heart as well. She wished she could be there for him but she was helpless to do a thing...

"I'm not entirely sure, honestly," Annabeth admitted after a small moment of silence. She furrowed her brow in worry, "He spends most of his time sitting under Thalia's tree. It's weird but whenever he does, Thalia's tree seems to get a little bit better... Once he noticed he stopped all his activities so he could just sit there... He even stopped teaching swordplay...Well, except for Percy. But it's only because Percy's the only person at camp skilled enough with a sword that Luke to let off steam on them and not risk serious injury. For the most part he just spends his time with Thalia, so I don't really see him... Whenever I do see him he just seems angry. Angry and..."

Annabeth trailed off looking off into the distance with a vacant look in her eyes like she was remembering some old memory. She looked so unhappy and worried; Raven's heart broke a little. Annabeth was always so calm and brave, seeing her soft side like this was rare and concerning.

"And what?" Raven asked leaning against the sink, her expression painted with worry. She wished she was there physically so she could give her friend a hug and tell her everything would be alright.

"Helpless. He feels helpless, Raven..." Annabeth sighed running her fingers through her blonde hair the way she did when she was really stressed, "We _both_ do. We _all_ do. It's like Thalia's dying all over again. Only this time there's no home waiting for us over the hill because that's dying along with her..."

"Annabeth..." Raven frowned. She absolutely hated seeing her friend so miserable, but there was nothing she could do. There were some things even knowledge of the future could change. The pain one felt from the loss of a friend was one of them. "Listen to me Annabeth; everything's going to be fine. Just trust your instincts and use your head."

Annabeth gave her a withering look, "I just wish you were here... You always know what to do..."

Raven smiled encouragingly, "Don't sell yourself short Annabeth! You're Annabeth freaking Chase, gosh darn it! Everything you need is right is right here." She tapped her right temple with her finger and Annabeth replied with a slight smile.

"Thanks Raven..." Annabeth said quietly.

Raven opened her mouth to encourage her friend further but the conversation was cut short when the train car hit a bump and knocked Raven's duck shaped flashlight to the floor. The connection was lost and Annabeth's face shimmered and disappeared. Raven could have talked to Annabeth for the rest of the train ride if the connection hadn't been cut off but at least she'd gotten back in time to save Jason and Octavian.

She hadn't gotten to talk with Annabeth about camp as much as she'd wanted to so an answerless Raven was left to wallow in her worries as she, Jason, and Octavian forged ahead on a path which cut through a giant field with a few trees here and there. Apparently this was what passed for a forest in Texas.

Raven worried about Percy and Annabeth plenty but mostly she worried about Luke. She wanted more than anything to make sure he was okay. Luke was like family to her. He was the first real friend she'd made since she landed in this universe and he'd taught her everything. How to fight and how to survive as a demigod, it all came from the lessons Luke had taught her. He was like her big brother to her. When they'd met she'd given him some...Privileged information... Normally she wouldn't have but it was the only way she could think of to get him to rethink his plan to join Kronos. The fact that he knew he was going to go bad planted a seed of worry in her. What if Luke had he'd figured out that he was the one who was supposed to poison Thalia's tree? Luke wasn't stupid after all so it was more than possible... Raven couldn't imagine feeling that kind of guilt. She imagined it was eating Luke alive to know he could have done something like this. That he was _going_ to do something like this.

All Raven wanted to do was run back to Camp and comfort her friend and adoptive big brother but the only thing she could do at the moment was continue walking in the blazing Texas heat in the slim hopes that they'd still make their train...

"Raven? You okay? You look like something's bothering you?"

Jason's voice brought Raven back to the present. She looked up to meet Jason's gaze, and pursed her lips as she noticed, with surprise, that Jason's worried face bore a striking resemblance to Annabeth's. When she realized she'd been staring, the daughter of Nemesis shook her head, tossing her black curls.

"I'm cool!" She insisted, though her brain still riddled with worry, "Just a little concern about my friends back home...I mean, they'll be fine but... they've just been under a look of stress... Not being able to help them is driving me nuts... that's all."

"Your friends...? Right, you mean..." Jason trailed off trying to remember the names Raven had called them before, "Man, what were their names...?"

"Annabeth...and Luke...and" Raven reminded him, pausing for a second, "...and Percy..."

"Right, the one you have a crush on," Jason joked but Raven wasn't in the mood for jokes. Not when her and Percy weren't even speaking. Jason seemed to sense her discomfort and changed the subject, "Anyway so we have a train to catch at 10 tonight so that means we have 10 hours to get from here to Houston..."

The three had gotten off the train at Houston Amtrak, which was about an hour and a half bus ride from Houston Texas (which made no sense to Raven. Why are there different Houstons? Yet again Raven had never quite gotten Texas anyway.). A bus ride they should have been on, and would have been on too if Raven hadn't forgotten her bag in the train station restroom. They ended up having to go all the way back to get it causing them to miss the bus. Raven felt plenty bad about it but the first ten minutes of Octavian's yelling and scolding had been punishment enough. Now the three were trying to walk the distance to their next train, although Raven knew none of them really believed they'd make it. Raven had done the math, or at least tried to, math was never one of her strong suits but no matter how she looked at it there was no way they'd make it...

"Yes Jason!" Octavian spat, who was walking two paces behind the two. He seemed to be in an even whinier mood than usual, which was understandable but Raven still groaned to herself, "Because we all need to be reminded of what we already know! Nice recap, seriously, stellar job there sport!"

"Oh shut it Octavian, no one's in the mood to hear you whine," Raven chewed on the inside of her cheek in annoyance.

"Oh yes!" Octavian through hands up in the air, "We're about to fail our mission, endanger the whole camp, and loss your crazy mom's scales forever, all while proving to Cameron that I can't handle a quest, but by all means tell me, probatio, what are you in the mood to hear? I'd just love to know!"

"Yea?!" Raven cheeks burned with anger, "what I'd like to hear is my fist hitting your dumb arrogant face!"

"Bring it on, prude!" Octavian spat back.

"Guys..." Jason groaned but neither Raven nor Octavian were listening anymore. Raven stood in front of the lanky augur shooting dangers from her eyes. Octavian stood firm as well but his glare wavered. He always got that look on his face whenever they got into it. It was as if he didn't really want to fight. Raven knew exactly why that was. He was a coward. He knew he'd lose. After all, what other explanation was there?

Raven known from day one she hated Octavian. At first she hated him because she saw him as he was in the books. As a villain. She was almost afraid of him. Almost. Sometimes she still was. She could still see that glimmer of dark potential in him that only proved to her that he was fully capable of everything he'd done in the books. She saw it in the way he manipulated and threatened people. But now, Raven could also see the other side to him too, the part of him that made his presence so unbearable, the part of him that was simply a spoiled rich brat.

"You are so infuriating!" Raven said throwing her hands in the air and turning to walk away. "I am not doing this with you right now! You can cool your head and maybe then try talking to me!"

"Don't tell me what to do probatio!" Octavian following a step behind, "I'll talk to whoever I want!"

"Yea you will," Raven said, "And you'll get slugged in the nos- Ahhh!"

Raven wasn't expecting the ground to collapse underneath her feet. If she had been she wouldn't have grabbed Octavian's arm to keep from falling. But she wasn't, so she did. And fun fact about Octavian: No upper body strength. So of course they both went tumbling into the cavern that had opened up beneath her feet.


	28. Raven 28

**Authors note: Yo guys, so after realizing that chapter 29 was twice the number of words as every other chapter in this story and also realizing that after this chapter I didn't have any real reason to write for Raven anymore I decided I wanted to split this chapter into two parts. So yea... It's just that every time I write for Raven I do it in at least groups of four so when I realized that after this scene it made more sense to change POV I decided it just made more sense to split it into two separate chapters and maybe write in a flashback while I'm at it to make it four chapters before I start writing for someone else. I started writing the next POV and be like "HAHA there's no structure here! I don't care anymore" but I couldn't I need my structure. ;_; anyway yea if you haven't seen that I edited and re uploaded chapter 29 than go check it out. It's not just edited I added in a few extra details and changed things around so if you don't read the re-uploaded version you might get lost...**

**-With love, Piper-Audrey**

Raven

The last time Raven had fallen that far was when she'd fallen off the St. Louis Arch in Percy's arms. She remembered every heart pounding second of that fall and she still had dreams in which she could feel Percy's arms around her. It was frightening and thrilling and magical. She supposed it was a bit too clique to say that as she fell off that arch she'd also fallen in love. But that didn't stop her from thinking it...

Raven remembered every second of that fall, but this time her mind went blank. The last thing Raven could remember was grabbing Octavian's arm and then suddenly she was in a rope net dangling 5 feet off the ground in the most uncomfortable position she'd ever been in in her life.

She groaned and shifted kicking Octavian in the ribs.

"Ow!" He complained, "Watch it would you?!"

Raven struggled and wormed her way into a more comfortable position, turning her head from side to side, squinting in the darkness. There was a small patch of sunlight, pouring down on them from the surface above them, but beyond that was darkness. She reached for Artemis, suddenly aware of the danger Octavian and she were probably in. Traps and nets didn't just sit in the middle of nowhere for no reason after all.

She cursed in Ancient Greek.

Raven unsheathed Artemis and began to cut away at the ropes. She started at the top of the net but no more than a second or two later she realized, she wasn't making any progress.

"Ugh! What the heck!?" She said through gritted teeth, "These ropes won't cut!"

"Of course not," Octavian said, trying to yank his arm free, which he had somehow gotten hopelessly tangled in the ropes, "These ropes are woven with Imperial gold, they aren't going to break."

Raven huffed and began to try and find a way out while Octavian continued to try and yank his arm free. The whole net shook and twisted at all the movement and Raven heard Octavian yelp in pain.

"Would you quit moving!?" he glared at her, "You're making it worse!"

"Then get untangled! How'd you even manage that?" Raven shook her head shifting her weight to try and stand.

"Gee, I don't know Raven, maybe; just maybe, it had something to do with a certain someone dragging me down a hole- Ow!" He said as Raven stood up in the net twisting his arm. Octavian yanked his arm, hard, and thrashed around slightly in pain. The net wobbled and Raven squeaked as she lost her footing and tumbled face-first on top of Octavian just as he sprung his arm free.

Raven was confused for a second as she processed the faceful of Purple shirt she'd received. When she realized what had happened less than a moment later she squeaked, her cheeks turning pink. She gripped around for something solid to hold onto. Her hands settled on Octavian's shoulders and Raven sat up, glaring at the blond roman under her.

"You suck..." was all she could think to say.

"Dearly noted" Octavian replied, rolling his eyes, although his cheeks were just as red as her's, if not more so.

"Looks like we caught something ladies," Raven heard a girl's voice say and she sat up reaching for Artemis. She scowled when she realized she'd dropped the blade when Octavian made her fall, "Bring up the lights!"

Raven shielded her eyes, squinting as bring lights flooded the area around them.

The first thing Raven saw when her eyes adjusted to the lights was the large group of girls standing there in black pants suits around them. Each of them stared at Raven and Octavian with stern expressions painted on their faces as they pointed their weapons at their prisoner's faces.

Octavian fell silent as his eyes scanned over the crowd and scowled as if he'd just landed in Tartarus. Raven didn't follow her companions lead, instead shouting at them with an annoyed expression, "Hey! What are you standing there for? Let us out of here!"

The girls looked at each other before finally one of them waved their hand.

The net jerked and Raven and Octavian hit the ground below them with a hard thud. Raven rubbed her shoulder and yelped in pain. _What is it with people and abusing my poor shoulder! _Raven whined silently_ it's still sour from when Cameron hit it, geez!_

The girls kept their weapons pointed towards the two. Raven felt around for Artemis, just in case she needed to fight her way out of this one. Although Raven had to admit that idea seemed pretty hopeless even for a Bringer of Hope. She gripped around keeping her eyes trained on the girls in front her. Her fingers just grazed the blade before it was kicked out of her reach.

Raven looked up to see a skinny redheaded girl who looked to be in her twenties looking at her with a hard expression. She wore a black leather jumpsuit with her short red hair pinned off her face. She folded her arms and looked down at Raven, which reminded Raven of her old teachers, freshmen year, who'd given her that look whenever she forget to do her homework. "Tell me your names and why you're in my camp." She ordered looking at Raven, completely ignoring Octavian, who'd for once decided it was better to shut his mouth.

"I don't know! What are we doing in your camp?!" Raven growled, "I think you should be answering that question!"

"Okay," The girls said, "I'll tell you what you're doing down here. You're trespassing."

"Trespassing!? Are you kidding me! It's your fault we're here in the first place! Now who are you people!?"

The girls looked at the redhead, who Raven was guessing was their leader, for instructions but she just raised her hand and the group lowered their weapons. She gazed down at Raven like she was a problem that needed fixing. Raven's eyes drifted down slowly as something around the girls waste caught her eye.

The red headed girl sported a shiny gold belt. I looked odd, like a golden links making a golden labyrinth that draped over her hips. Raven's eyes widened as the puzzle pieces started to come together.

"Amazons..." She said slowly her blue eyes filled with wonder and surprise as she lifted her head to meet the redhead's eyes once again. The girl merely smirked in a half amused, half condescending way.

"Ah, so you've heard of us."

O*O*O*O

Raven had never been completely sure how she felt about the Amazons. She'd always kind of preferred the Hunters of Artemis. They were both pretty cool but the Amazons had never given her that jumpy giddy feeling the way the Hunters had. The Amazons had always just been there. Never good nor bad so Raven didn't really have an opinion on them.

Until now.

Raven. Fricken. Loved them.

Once whole misunderstanding of how Raven and Octavian had ended up in their camp had gotten sorted out both Raven and Camilla, the red headed girl, apologized to each other and ended up laughing about the whole thing. It was actually kind of funny. At least Raven knew the Amazons were going to kill them...

Raven had been kind of scared when she realized these girls were the Amazons but as it turned out, when they didn't have an undead ex-queen threatening a hostile takeover and a possible civil war on their hands, the Amazons were pretty cool. Not to say they were any less strict or lethal or anything, but they were much less gung-ho about killing intruders, which was comforting to know. And since Raven was a girl and Octavian had become so quite, the Amazons were patient enough with them.

Camilla was pretty cool too. Raven wasn't surprised to hear she was the current Queen of the Amazons since she sported Hippolyta's Belt, just as Hylla had. She was a pretty good Queen too. The way she talked and acted was enough to convince Raven of that. She was confident and smart and seemed to know exactly what she was doing. It really made Raven wonder what made her step down so Hylla could take over. She remembered reading something about that in the books but she couldn't remember... Camilla ordered the other Amazons to get back to work and helped Raven to her feet telling both her and Octavian to follow.

"Even if this was a misunderstanding," Camilla sighed, "We have to writing down your stories and report everything and all that. A business is nothing without paperwork, as they say."

Raven worried briefly about Jason but she imagined he'd be for a few minutes.

Camilla walked along the catwalk of the huge factory where Raven and Octavian had landed. Maybe not as big as the main on in California but it was the size of few football fields at least. Camilla talked about the factory as if she were a tour guide, telling the two how the factory was made and how long it had been in the Amazon's possessions. Raven was too busy marveled the whole at everything she saw to listen. There were shelves and magic items and mythological creatures she'd never seen before as far as the eye could see. They walked all the way to a small office on the other side of the Factory. Raven was starting to get the idea that Octavian had heard of the Amazons before and knew what would most likely happen if he went running his big mouth because he seemed to be struggling to bite his tongue the whole way there, eyeing the male workers in jumpsuits and collars.

"This is just a small branch of our operation. Our main headquarters is located in Seattle. Normally I'd be there but..." Camilla trailed off. "Well let's just say we thought something else might fall into that trap..."

Camilla opened door to the tiny office and took a seat behind the desk offering Raven the seat across from her and she took it. Octavian stood in the doorway looking like he wanted to bolt as soon as he got the chance. Raven got the feeling that Octavian didn't appreciate "being put in his place" as the Amazons would call it. Raven wasn't surprised. His ego was too big to let anyone damage his pride. The fact that he had to just let it happen was killing him. Camilla just laughed softly.

"Your boyfriends rather quiet isn't he," She smiled, "I see you're a girl who knows how to keep her man in line. You'd make a good Amazon, Raven."

"No! Nononono!" Raven shook her head, "That fool is _NOT _my boyfriend. The day I date him, is that day Hades freezes over."

"Hey!" Octavian spoke up for the first time in nearly an hour, which was just a little bit impressive.

"Shut up," Raven said quickly and Octavian looked like he wanted to say about a million nasty things but held his tongue mouthing insults as he turned away and folded his arms across his chest. Raven could help but smile. Maybe she would make a good Amazon, she giggled to herself, which was something she hadn't felt like doing since she was on her first quest with Percy and Annabeth. She supposed now that she was on a real quest again she was beginning to feel a bit like her old self.

Camilla smiled, "You'd still make a pretty good Amazon, Raven Blouse, now..." She shuffled through some papers and shifted in her seat, "You two are from Camp Jupiter? You're a long ways from home. What are you doing out here?"

"Well, we're actually on a quest right now," Raven explained about the scales and their quest and what happened so far and about them having to get to Houston to catch their next train to get to Alabama, "Although it seems that we'll be missing it now. There's no way to make it in time... Not that there was much of a chance before."

"Hmm," Camilla said leaning back in her chair, "I normally wouldn't do this but, since these aren't exactly normal circumstances, I'm going to make you an offer. If you promise not to cause any problems and you keep your man here in line, you and your friend can stay the night here and in the morning I'll provide you with transportation to your destination in Alabama."

"Really!?" Raven said wide eyes.

Camilla smiled a little, "Amazons and Romans haven't always been friends but there have been times when I've sent a girl or two to train with Lupa. Ya know girls who really aren't really 'Amazon material.' But still I'd hate to see anything happen to my friends there so if Camp Jupiter's in trouble I'd like to help out in any way I can. After all it's the least we could do, after we caused you to miss your train in the first place."

"And what about my friend, Jason?" Raven asked.

"I'll send a group of Amazons to collect him, while you two set up camp. As long as you keep your two men in line it shouldn't be a problem." Camilla said, then adding with a cheerful smile "If they do cause any sort of problem, we'll have to execute them painfully... But I trust you have that under control."

"For the most part yea..." Raven shrugged. Octavian seemed to be behaving himself and she doubted Jason would be running around making mischief.

Meanwhile Octavian looked like he would rather strangle himself than stay the night with the Amazons but he didn't protest, probably for fear of being mistaken for ungrateful.

Camilla lead the two out of the office, stopping for an only a moment to order two Amazon warriors to go grab Jason. Somewhere in the back of Raven's mind she couldn't help but wince, knowing that Jason probably wasn't going to get the star treatment being escorted to camp. She just hoped he had the good sense to shut his mouth and cooperate like Octavian, which was a rather weird thought for Raven since she'd always pictured it being the other way around.

Camilla showed them to an area in the back of the factory, almost entirely closed off from the rest of the building by the surrounding shelves. It was like a giant cubical, made of three storage shelves against the steel back wall of the factory. There was a small opening in the side opposite the wall where Camilla slipped in followed by Raven, and then Octavian. To Raven's surprise there was already a stack of supplies waiting for them when they got there. Some food, water, sleeping bags, lanterns, and a change of clothes for each of them stacked on top of a pile of air mattresses. Raven looked up at Camilla.

"But how..?" Raven questioned suspiciously. The Amazon queen waved her hand dismissively.

"We run _Amazon dot com_" Camilla reminded her, "We already had everything in stock we just had it brought over. No big deal or anything. Just set up and if there are any problems you know where to find me...But I am a very busy woman so please don't find me."

And with that the redhead turned on her heels and left. As soon as the Amazon Queen was out of earshot Raven yea a long exhale from Octavian, as if he'd been holding his breath the whole time. She looked at him for a second registering the relief on his face now that Camilla had left. Raven didn't get guys, they had no idea how to act around strong independent woman and it she had no idea why.

Raven turned and started to rummage through the supplies the amazons had left for them and trying to figure out how to work the gas lantern. She turned the knob of the propane tank and jumping as it hissed at her, quickly turning the knob back the other way.

Octavian turned and glared at her.

"Are you crazy!?" he said in a harsh whisper

"What- why? Am I not supposed to turn that knob? Because I don't see any other knobs..." Raven said, still fumbling with the lamp. Octavian groaned and face palmed.

"That's not what I meant! Can you focus here!?" Octavian growled, "I mean that you're crazy if you think we're staying here!"

Raven didn't bother looking up from her hands which fiddled with the steel propane tank. "Why don't you want to stay here?" She asked in a monotone voice, since she knew that's exactly what he wanted her to ask. She figured it was better just to play along.

"They're Amazons! Romans and Amazons have battled for years. They're repulsive, small minded controlling dictators! They're almost the worst group of demigods out there. Right behind the Greeks!"

Raven frozen at this and stood up suddenly, letting the lantern and propane tank fall to the floor with the deafening clatter of steel on concrete, and glass breaking. She stood about an inch front Octavian, their noses nearly touching as she stared into his eyes with a death glare.

"Trash talk the Greeks one more time, I dare you." She hissed. Octavian didn't waste any time accepting the challenge.

"You heard me! Greeks are scheming, lying dirt bags who sit out there right now and plot against our camp."

"Shut up Octavian! I'm warning you!" Raven shouted.

"They're evil, Raven, nothing but pure evil. All they do is cause death and destruction! They're half the demigods we are. They're nothing but parasites." Octavian said raising his voice to match hers.

"You're wrong! That's not true at all you don't know anything about them so SHUT UP!" Raven was screaming at him at this point, her blue eyes blazing with anger.

Octavian's face flushed red with anger, and shouted over the daughter of Nemesis to be heard "I'll tell you what I do know! They're a bunch of freaks-"

Octavian didn't get to finish the thought, though, because Raven slapped before he had the chance.

Raven breathed heavily, retracting her hand. She could tell how hard she'd hit him by how badly her hand stung. Octavian's cheek was red and she could already tell there would be some kind of mark there tomorrow morning. Both demigods stood in silence for a long time processing what had happened. Octavian lifted his hand to his cheek staring at Raven in shock, who was so shocked herself that she hadn't even noticed the hot tears rolling down her cheeks.

Raven cleared her throat and spoke quietly, "You don't get to speak like that about them. I don't want to hear you talk like that ever again."

Slowly Octavian nodded. Raven wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her orange sweatshirt. She stared at the shirt's orange hue for a moment. Orange just like the Camp Half-Blood tee-shirts she'd gotten so used to wearing. A knot formed in her stomach, making her feel incredibly homesick. She shook her head in dismay and turned, walking out of the campsite.

It was hard to explain what made Raven so upset. She'd wished for years to be a Greek demigod. People had told her that was stupid and weird for years. Being a demigod was ridiculous and childish. She'd been called a freak so many times she'd lost count. Now that she had her wish granted for the first time she had friends who cared for her and they were Greek demigods just like her. She'd gotten so used to being a part of something and feeling like she belonged she just couldn't take being alienated anymore. She wasn't going to allow other people to look down on anymore. And she wasn't going to let them look down on the people she loved either. She was done feeling like she didn't belong.


	29. Raven 29

Raven

_October 22 (about seven months ago)_

Raven's hands felt cold. She stuffed them into the pockets of her thin blue sweatshirt but nothing seemed to help warm them. She curled herself into a ball, tucking her legs into her sweatshirt and sank down. The wind howled over head and pricked at her ears which stung painfully. Night had fallen hours ago. The leaves on the trees had already fallen and it felt more like winter than autumn. Still she ignored the cold, sitting outside in the frozen dirt.

It was the twenty-second of October. Her birthday...

She hadn't bothered to mention it to anyone. She figured it wasn't important. It hadn't even crossed her mind. Now she regretted it. It would have lessened the ache she felt now.

Years before she made her wish, Raven spent her birthday with her sister. Just her and Kelly. It was the day she looked forward to all year and now it was gone. She couldn't even find Kelly. Raven was starting to think she never would. Would her sister even know who she was when she found her? Would she ever get her back?

Raven buried her head in her knees and cried. Even when you're Bringer of Hope, there are times when you feel like there is nothing left to hope for...

Raven had spent the day wandering around her hometown in Connecticut. She'd visited her old high school and the library where she used to read after school, asking anyone for any information they had about her sister. Nobody seemed to know anything about anyone named Kelly Blouse.

She finally found herself at the place where her old house should have stood.

Before the wish it had been a white and black Victorian style house that stood at the end of the road. There was a thick wood in the backyard with a swing set made of wood and plastic. There were exactly four bedrooms and two bathrooms. There had been a kitchen with black and white tiled floors and a living room painted the color of peaches. There was an office where Colby would play Xbox and a bookcase full of all Ravens' favorite books. The house had been littered with Kelly's artwork, which their father had hung up in frames whenever he was home from work. There was a cupboard full of wine bottles. It was the only cupboard in the house with a steal lock on it and the only person with a key was Raven's mother. There was a cement basement where Colby would disappear into for hours. There was a little bedroom in the attic with pink curtains and fairy lights and a warm bed with a flashlight next to it for late night reading. There was a desk in the corner of the room for homework that went largely untouched. In the downstairs hallway the last door on the right lead to a study where Raven's father would lock himself up while he did his work. It served as a private escape made just for him.

In the front entryway there was a beautiful picture, hung in an oak frame. It was of Raven and her family. The picture depicted a loyal and caring husband with his arm around his beautiful wife's waist. The loving parents stood behind their three amazing children. In the middle, sat the oldest son. He smiled at the camera with his arms playfully wrapped around his two little sisters, who both grinned with joy. On the brother's left was the oldest girl, a beautiful brown haired girl. The only one in the family with light hair. To the brother's right sat the younger sister. Her arm was wrapped around her brother and she looked at the camera lens with a huge grin painted on her face. The picture captured them as if they were at the pinnacle of happiness.

The perfect family.

Raven's mother had hung it there so that when people walked inside that first impression they got of her family. It was the first thing Raven saw everyday walking home from school. As if her mother thought hanging up some pretty picture in a frame could mask the bittersweet memories echoing through the halls. That house was like candy coated poison.

But still... it was home.

No, correction: It was ash.

That's all that was left, anyway. Char and ash. Raven had tried to ask the neighbors what had happened but they all said the same thing. The house had always been like that. They'd complained to the city, they'd tried to get the remains of the house cleared away, maybe get something built there but nothing was ever done. From what they'd heard the family had gotten out safely and ended up moving away. No one knew where though...

After a long day of disappointment and heartache Raven curled up at the closest place she had to a home. The edge of the creek by Jimmy's World Famous Ice Cream where she and Kelly used to play. The ground was wet and cold and she could feel the muddy water soaking into her socks. Her toes curled and began to go numb.

Raven played with her flashlight keychain wiping away tears from her cheeks. She squeezed the button on the duck's back and a beam of light came shining out of its bill. She clicked it on and off again, trying to focus on anything else, besides the cold.

_You could go back to camp,_ Her mind offered, _you could always go back to camp..._

But what would they think of her there? After she left like that... Especially Luke. There would be so many questions that she didn't have the heart to answer. Besides she had a mission to fulfill. She needed to find her sister. If she went back to camp she wouldn't want to leave and then she might as well kiss any hope of finding Kelly goodbye. She just had to focus. She was fine...

_But you're not fine... _Her mind argued.

Yes she was...

_No. You're not._

Her flashlight's beam flickered about the water. A rock in the middle of the stream's path caused the water to spray into the air like mist. The flashlight's beam caught on it making a rainbow. A faint one, but a rainbow none the less. Raven paused staring at the rainbow flickering in the dark. It was so faint and she was surprised to see it in the dark like this... She stuck her hand in her bag. The first thing her hand touched was a golden drachma.

She swallowed her pride and tossed the coin into the rainbow.

"Goddess, accept my offering... Show me Luke Castellan at Camp Half-Blood."

O*O*O*O

Raven waited two and a half hours on the front steps of the library. It was 3 in the morning by time Luke pulled up in the Camp Half-Blood van. The son of Hermes had been taking driving lessons from Chiron since he was 17. How a centaur had taught a teenage boy to drive was beyond Raven but it wasn't like Dionysus was going to do it. Chiron had stepped up; after all, Luke needed to learn. It wasn't like he was planning on staying at Camp Half-Blood forever.

Luke leaned over and opened the passenger side door, "Come on, get in."

Raven climbed into the van and they started the long drive home in the dark. The headlights cut through the otherwise peaceful night as the two demigods sat in silence. Luke kept glancing at Raven like he wanted to say something but didn't for a long time.

Luke looked the same as he had when she'd left. Tall, blond, with a thick, pale scar running from the bottom of his eye down to his chin. Raven knew she had changed though. She'd grown nearly an inch taller. She still had about an inch to go before she was back to her old height which was 5'6" but 5'5" was pretty good for now. She had a couple new scars along her arms and legs marking the battles she'd won against more than a couple monsters.

Luke broke the silence after thirty minutes of driving in the dark.

"So, where have you been?"

Raven shrugged, "Here... There... Everywhere."

There was another minute of silence.

"You didn't call camp," Luke said, "We were worried."

"Yea..."

"_I_ was worried"

"Mmm..."

The conversation ended there for the rest of the drive. Raven curled up into a ball again, sinking back into the soft leather of the passenger's seat. The heater whirred softly creating fog on the windows. Luke stared at the road without a word. Raven could tell he was tired; his eyes stared off into the distance like he had just woken up. Raven wasn't sure if he was angry or relieved to see her. When she'd called he hadn't said much. She'd asked him to come and get her and he simply asked where. There was no other dialogue between them. Whatever it was he was feeling at least he'd come to get her...

A couple miles passed and Raven fell asleep.

O*O*O*O

When Luke woke Raven up, it was light outside. The sun had just begun to work its way over the horizon, poking through the pine tree branches. Luke had parked the van and leaned back in the driver's seat. Raven read the clock. It was 6:30 in the morning... Luke finally looked over at her with a serious look in his eyes.

"You don't get to do that, you know." Luke said, "You're not allowed to run away every time something happens and leave me here wondering what went wrong. If you leave, you tell and you let me know why."

"I'm sorry..." Raven frowned.

"Because that's what you do for family," Luke continued, "You don't make your family worry about you. That's what you told me, wasn't it? That you don't put your family in that kind of distress."

"...Family..." Raven repeated.

"That's right," Luke said, looking at her, "We're family. We're all your family, and this is your home. You can go running around the country as much as you want, Raven, but we all know you belong here..."

Raven swallowed, she belonged here. She _belonged_ here. Raven had never belonged anywhere. She'd always loved camp half-blood. She'd made it her mission to make it better for the people who lived there. She wanted to protect it from all the sadness and suffering that it would be subject to. She'd gone as far as to call it home before but she had never really thought about it before.

Camp Half-Blood was her _home. _The other campers here were her _family. _

She remembered the halls of her high school and how in every class she'd chosen to sit in the very back where no one would bother her. She remembered eating Lunch alone in the computer lab every day. She remembered the hours she'd spent alone in the corner of the library after school. She remembered the Victorian house at the end of the road and the picture hanging in the entryway depicting the perfect family.

No... Not perfect.

Raven could see what the picture of a perfect family would look like and it looked nothing like the photograph hanging in her old home. Instead she saw a tall boy with sandy hair and a scar with his arm around a girl with blond hair curled like a princess's. Standing with her was a dark haired boy with green eyes. With them there was a boy with goat legs and horns and a girl with a spear dressed in camouflage. There was a man who was half horse. A pair of boys who looked like they could be twins. A girl who was so pretty she was almost as beautiful as her mother. A boy with big hands and dirt on his face leftover from the forge.

And finally in the middle of it all, on the sandy haired boy's other side, with his arm wrapped around her shoulders stood a small black haired girl with blue eyes and a green backpack. A silver circlet was woven into her hair and she proudly sported an orange Camp Half-Blood tee-shirt. And when she smiled at the camera lens, it was genuine.

It looked so right. It _felt _so right. When she thought about that picture, it didn't give her that empty feeling in her chest like she had something to hide. It was just her and her family, right there smiling for the sake of smiling. Not because they were covering up everything that went on behind closed doors. No one had on any false smiles and no one was faking love. It was unlike anything she'd ever felt before.

"Luke," Raven said after a long moment of silence. A smile crept onto her face and she wipe away tears as her voice cracked, "I think... I think I want to go _home_..."

Luke smiled at her leaning over to hug her tightly.

Raven had never belonged anywhere. She had never belonged to anything. She had nothing and now there was _this_. This was everything she had ever dreamt about. She'd never thought it was possible but now she had it. This was the genuine love and acceptance she'd always craved. She finally felt like she belonged...

And she would protect that...


	30. Octavian 30

Octavian

Octavian knew he might have been taking the whole Greeks are awful thing too far, but he hadn't thought Raven would slap him... His cheek stung painfully and he had a feeling that red mark wasn't going away any time soon. He'd seen Raven fight before but he still found it hard to believe such a tiny girl possessed that much power in her hand.

The fact that Raven had slapped him wasn't what had Octavian seething on a pile of air mattresses though. It was the fact that he had been an idiot, which was a rather foreign concept to Octavian given how brilliant he usually was. But even he had to admit what he said to Raven had been nothing short of foolish. He was quite disappointed in himself.

He'd made her cry too...And the worst part of it all was that he had been trying to.

He'd done it tons of times before so he knew exactly what to do. Once he saw how much talking about the Greeks bothered Raven he'd just kept going. He knew she'd break down but he didn't think he'd feel so miserable afterwards. He had wanted to hurt her. He understood now why that was such an awful idea but he'd just been so mad at her...

Raven and Jason's words rung in his head.

_Annabeth...and Luke...and-...and Percy..._

_Right, the one you have a crush on._

Octavian ran his hands through his messy blond hair trying not to think about it, but that seemed impossible. If he hadn't been acting like a lovesick schoolgirl he'd have seen it earlier. Of course a girl as perfect as Raven Blouse had a boyfriend. Octavian doubted there was a guy stupid enough on planet earth to not like Raven. She probably had the pick of the litter when it came to guys. He hated it. This Percy guy, whoever he was, was the boy Raven was in love with... The thought of some other guy being able to love, and hold, and care for Raven, while he couldn't even think straight around her, was unbearable. Whoever this Percy guy was, Octavian wanted to push him off a cliff.

He was furious at everyone and everything. He was mad at this Percy guy for having what he didn't. He was mad at Raven for not getting that he would make a much better boyfriend than any other schmuck out there. He was mad at Jason for... Well he wasn't actually sure why he was mad at Jason but he assumed it was for something good. Lastly he was mad at himself for setting off on this gods awful quest for nothing. Octavian scowled. This was all Raven's fault... Liking her had never been part of his plan. He hadn't wanted that, it was her evil feminine sorcery that had messed up his brain. He had spent the last hour, since Raven had run off, making a list of all the reasons this whole mess was Raven's fault, and not his.

It was her fault for giving him the book of prophecies.

It was her fault for making him lose all logical sense.

It was her fault for making him lose sleep over her.

It was her fault for being confident enough to make it her mission to find these scales.

It was her fault for letting him show her new rome.

It was her fault for letting him help her at the senate meeting.

It was her fault for saving him on the train.

The list went on, and on, and still none of it made Octavian feel any better in the least... Because in the end he knew he had no one to blame but himself. That was what made him so miserable. He had promised himself years ago that he wasn't going to be taking the blame for all the things that went wrong in his life anymore. Now he wished he had just taken the blame himself instead of punishing Raven for his own foolishness. The only course of action left was to sit down on a pile of plastic air beds and wallow in his own self-pity.

He just wondered why the Greeks were such a sore subject for Raven.

She had the dark hair so maybe she was greek in heritage, or maybe this Percy guy was greek, or maybe she still worshipped the old gods. Octavian had known a demigod or two who worshipped both Roman and Greek gods since they were so closely related, saying that it was "important to remember our roots." There were tons of reasons why a demigod would defend the Greeks. It wasn't too uncommon. It was true that most either hated the Greeks or didn't think they existed but every once in awhile they'd get a demigod willing to defend them. Which was folly.

Octavian sighed, tentatively rubbing his cheek and staring up at the steel ceiling, and tall storage shelves around him. Oh yeah, and to top it all off he was having the world's worst sleepover with the Amazon tribe. Octavian was about to declare this the worst day of his life but Jason pulled him out of thought before he could.

"Let go of me! Who are you!?" Octavian could hear Jason shouting from a mile away, "Where are my friends!? Where are you taking me!?"

"Shut up boy!" A girl was saying but from the strain in her voice Octavian could tell Jason was putting up a decent fight. "Men here don't speak unless spoken to!"

"To heck with that!" Jason shouted so loud, Octavian was sure the people in Rome could hear him, "Where's Raven!?"

Two Amazons, who looked about 16 years old, shoved Jason into the large closed off area serving as their campsite. Jason stumbled and fell on his face with a thud. It was enough to make Octavian smirk for about half a second before his attention turned to the two girls blocking the exit and glaring at Jason and Octavian both.

"Ugh, how disobedient! Your lucky your female friend has won Queen Camilla's favor! I'd enjoy watching both of your executions!" One of them huffed "Now stay here or I'll run you both through."

The Amazon pointed her spear at them before turning on her heels and storming off, followed by her friend who gave each of them a stern look and narrowed her eyes at them. It kind of reminded Octavian of Cameron for a minute, but he supposed it was just a powerful woman thing.

Octavian watched as Jason peeled himself off the concrete floor with a few cuts on his arms and legs and probably some bruises forming here and there. The most noticeable wound, however, was the deep gash above his right eye. Octavian frowned at the sight, displeased. He thought this might happen, with Jason's obsessive need to be heroic there was no way he was going to let the Amazons take him quietly, and there was no way Jason was any match for a pair of Amazons.

"I see you met our Amazon friends." Octavian said, frowning.

"They're lovely," Jason said, lifting his head to the cut on his temple. "nothing like friends with pointy things."

"Holy Juno Grace don't touch it," Octavian cringed, "Your hands are a bacteria's paradise, it's disgusting, you're gonna get it infected, if it isn't already."

"Wow" Jason frowned, "I don't know weather that was supposed to be considerate or insulting..."

"Shut up," Octavian rolled his eyes,"I think there's a first aid kit around here somewhere, assuming you don't bleed out first. Seriously, who's stupid enough to fight the Amazons?"

As much as Octavian hated Jason Grace, it was going to bother him for the rest of the quest if he left that headwound go unaddressed. Deep cuts need to be treated immediately, Octavian's mom would always say, even if you think it's fine it could be infected and the effects won't be pretty. She was right about that, if left untreated Jason could be facing everything from blood poisoning to fever and dizziness and the thought made Octavian more than a bit concerned. But Octavian would sooner swallow a handful of needles than admit that to the son of Jupiter.

Octavian rolled off the air mattresses and started shuffling through their supplies. Jason sat up off the floor, rubbing his back, and promptly took Octavian's seat on the air mattresses. Groaning, he let his bag fall to the ground.

"So you wanna fill me in on what's going on here?" Jason asked.

"Not especially no," Octavian frowned, "There was a hole, and a net, and a red headed girl, and lots of pointy sticks, and- found it!"

Octavian pushed aside the stack of sleeping bags, and grabbed the first aid kit, opening it. He tossed a pack of wet wipes at, an unsuspecting, Jason who caught it with his face. Octavian smirked as Jason shot him a glare.

"Go on," Octavian urged "Wash your hands, it's gross."

Octavian cared about power and the legion and the honor of Rome more than anything, but cleanliness was up there too. Octavian wasn't ashamed of the fact that he was a neat freak, and a germaphobe. He hated anything dirty, especially dirty people. He couldn't stand most people in general, he didn't want to catch their diseases as well.

Jason did as he was told, which was surprising since Jason almost never did what Octavian told him to.

Octavian placed a hand on Jason's head and jerked it to the side to get a better look at the wound, before washing it with a damp cloth, and applying disinfectant spray.

"Ow!" Jason yelped.

Octavian just rolled his eyes, "Don't be a baby Grace. what do you want me to do? Kiss it better?"

"As if. Just be careful..." Jason glared at him.

"Oh quit whining, I know what I'm doing, unlike you 90% of the time." Octavian replied squinting as he dried the cut, examined it, and nodded, before bandaging up the gash. It looked like Jason would be just fine. Octavian breathed a sigh of relief before going back to glaring at the Son of Jupiter.

"You done yet, Doctor Callidus?" Jason teased with a smirk.

"Yea I'm done," Octavian said in annoyance, "Not even a thank you, huh? what? Was the great Jason Grace raised by wolves or something?"

Jason knit his eyebrows, "Practically..."

"Of course," Octavian sighed, "Well next time you get hurt I'm not treating it-"

"Thank you Octavian," Jason finally said, talking over Octavian, which would have normally annoyed him but at least Jason had said thanks. It was progress...

"Remind me to change those tomorrow morning. Bandages have to be changed everyday." Octavian said, quoting his mom as he pointed to the white bandage around Jason's head, "And don't even think about doing that thing you do, where you pretend you're fine when you're not. If it gets worse, tell me, because if you get blood-poisoning and pass out in battle I will not be the one saving your sorry butt."

"Okay Okay, geez," Jason said, "I didn't think you had a compassionate bone in your body. How do you know all this medical stuff anyway?"

Octavian stared at him and groaned, facepalming. "Gee, Jason, I really don't know, how do I know all this medical stuff? Maybe, and I know this is a crazy theory, but hear me out, maybe it has something to do with being a legacy of Apollo."

"Oh right," Jason said, "I forget about that sometimes"

"You _forget_?"

"Well yeah," Jason shrugged, "Since I've met both your mom and dad sometimes I get confused and wonder who your godly parent is. It takes me a second to remember you're a legacy. Three-fourths human and one-fourth god."

"Great job Jason! You know what a legacy is." Octavian, said shooting Jason a fake smiled and using his best condescending voice.

Of all the things Octavian hated, being reminded that he was half the demigod as some of the other legionaries was the worst. Sure, there were plenty of other legacies at camp. In fact being a legacy was more common at Camp Jupiter than it was to be a full fledged demigod. Still there was always that one kid who made the stupid comment that they were better than the legacies because they had twice as much godly blood in them. which was completely untrue and completely stupid.

"I guess that makes sense, though" Jason said after a moment of thinking, "That you know stuff about first aid, your mom was daughter of Apollo. Wasn't she, like, one of the legion's best medics?"

"Yeah," Octavian frowned further, "She was."

If there was anything in the world Octavian hated more than being reminded that he was half the demigod as some of the other legionaries it was talking about his parents. He shot Octavian a death glare, sending the message: Drop it. Jason got this dumb look on his face before letting it go.

"Anyway, where's Raven?" Jason asked looking concerned. Octavian's shoulders fell. Out of the frying pan and into the fire, as they say. He sighed and stuffed the first aid kit into his backpack, "I thought she'd be with you, are the Amazons still talking to her?"

"She's exploring..." Octavian said, hoping not to be questioned.

No such luck

"Alone? But this place is huge, she could get lost," Jason said.

"Really...Hadn't crossed my mind," Octavian shrugged, trying to seem as though he didn't care.

"How long has she been gone?"

"About an hour give or take,"

"An hour!?" Jason said shocked, "Octavian, shouldn't we be looking for her? She could be hurt! You should have gone looking for her hours ago!"

"Jason," Octavian narrowed his eyes at his traveling companion,"Hours ago she was here... And trust me she's not hurt."

"How do you know that?" Jason asked, "I trust that your good with first aid, but no one's that good. Why else would she be gone for that long?"

"Please, Jason," Octavian waved his hand dismissively, "There are plenty of reasons for her to be gone so long. She could be looking for the bathroom, or talking to some Amazons, anything could have happened really."

Jason narrowed his eyes at Octavian, "What happened?"

Octavian frowned, "What makes you think something happened?"

"Octavian I've known you since Angela accepted me into the legion. I know you well enough to know when you're lying." Jason frowned, "...That and your cheek is still red. Raven definitely hit you."

Octavian remembered his old mentor. A daughter of Apollo named Angela Moss, who had the gift of prophecy. Once his parents found out Octavian had the gift as well he was sent to train under her. She was married now with two kids and another on the way. Once she stepped down the position had been empty for awhile until Cameron had decided to allow him to fill it.

"Slapped. She slapped me," Octavian pursed his lips, "There is a difference."

"What difference?" Jason shook his head, "Nevermind. So what happened this time? Must of been something pretty bad if she actually slapped you over it."

"None of your business Grace," Octavian snapped. He hated everything about the son of Jupiter, including how nosy he was. Octavian knew he had screwed up and there was no way he was giving Jason Grace the satisfaction of knowing it. It irked him enough that Jason knew when he was lying.

"Seriously, what's up between you two?" Jason asked, "Sure we argue plenty but with you two it's ridiculous. Every other word you say to her is an insult. Not that she's any better, but still, someone needs to be the bigger person."

"This really has nothing to do with you Grace..." Octavian shot Jason a glare.

"I don't get you at all," Jason shook his head, ignoring Octavian's glare, "You stand for her to join the first, and you help her at the senate meeting, but all you ever do is argue and yell at her. She's not a bad person Octavian, she really isn't. Why do you hate her so much?"

"I do not hate her!" Octavian threw his hands in the air. He hated the fact that everyone thought that he hated Raven. He hated that he knew exactly why they thought that, and he hated that he kept on making it easier and easier for people to assume he did hate her. He just wanted someone to realize that-

"You like her...!" Jason's eyes grew wide, "Bro, you totally like her!"

"Wait...What!?" Octavian stared at the son of Jupiter in shock. It was creepy how well Jason knew him. He didn't even think they'd spent that much time together, besides when they were arguing... "I do not like her...! And don't call me bro..."

"You could've fooled me Callidus," Jason smirked, "that's why you stood for her, and that's why you helped her out at the senate meeting, and volunteered to come on this quest. It's also why you argue with her. It's like you're a five year old who bullies the girl he likes on the playground..."

Octavian stared blankly at Jason. Jason was one of the most popular demigods in the legion. He had no shortage of friends and more than one or two admirers. Jason got along with people way better than Octavian ever could. Confiding in him about his dilemma with Raven would be the best tactical move. Jason wouldn't be able to resist the opportunity to help and his whole obsession with doing the honorable thing would keep him from spreading the story throughout camp and Octavian had no doubt his advice would benefit him.

Still...the thought of asking Jason Grace for help made Octavian sick.

Octavian choked out his next words through gritted teeth, "And if I did like her..?"

Jason's face broke out into the world most obnoxious grin and Octavian immediately regretted his decision to confide in the son of Jupiter. Octavian could practically see the gears turning in Jason's head. Jason straightened and gestured to the seat on the air mattress next to him. "Take a seat Octavian."

"What is this? A 8th grade girl's sleepover party? There is no way I'm about to sit down on that air mattress with you to talk about my feelings. Not happening Grace."

"Do you want my help or not?" Jason raised an eyebrow.

"I'm still debating..."

"Sit."

With an exasperated sigh Octavian sat down on the mattress as far as possible from Jason. He scowled and Jason cleared his throat dramatically and turned towards Octavian.

"So," Jason started, "You like Raven Blouse. Can't say I've ever pictured the great Octavian Callidus caring for someone like her... Well I can't say I've ever pictured you caring about anyone, and I definitely didn't picture myself helping you with this...or anything really, but I'm going to. I think caring about something other than the pursuit of power could be a good thing for you Octavian..."

Octavian shot him a death glare and Jason shook his head moving on.

"Anyway, what happened to get her upset with you this time?"

Octavian pursed his lips. He had never spent much time asking for, or receiving, help from others, so this was very odd to him. He wasn't exactly sure he was comfortable talking to Jason about his problems. After all it wasn't like he had friends, so he'd never done anything like this before... Octavian hadn't realized he'd been silent for so long until he noticed Jason looking at him funny.

"Come on," Jason prompted, "I'm sure it wasn't that bad."

"I- um, I kind of said some things..." Octavian started, he really hated this whole asking for help thing, "And she told me to stop and I didn't...and then, you know..."

His hand drifted up to his cheek and he looked down. He felt like he was somehow losing. Like him and Jason were always in some kind of battle and right now he was revealing an opening for attack on purpose. He hated feeling vulnerable. Vulnerability meant weakness, and weakness meant you were pathetic. Octavian waited for Jason to take advantage of the opening and strick at him with an insult, but he didn't do that.

"Why don't you just apologize?" Jason looked at Octavian, smiling a bit, "be more gentle and cut back on the insults. Raven can be... difficult, but you just have to be patient with her."

Octavian blinked.

"You've got to behave more like a gentleman around her and stop acting like you're better than her," Jason continued, "In fact you should probably just act like she's better than you. And above all, control your temper."

"Uh-huh..." Octavian frowned, he didn't like the idea of admitting anyone was better than him, but Octavian had to admit, if there was anyone on this earth better than him, it was Raven. "But... What if she doesn't want to talk to me..?"

"We're on a quest together," Jason shrugged, "she has to talk to you sometime..."

"And..." Octavian swallowed, "I mean... I thought...Didn't you say earlier that she- That she had a boyfriend...Percy..?"

"Percy?" Jason shrugged, "I don't really know what his and Raven's relationship is. Raven likes him I think, but from what I've gathered it's pretty rocky."

"Right," Octavian sighed.

"But hey," Jason said, "you shouldn't let your chance with Raven go to waist because of a guy she may or may not be with. And if it doesn't work out at least you can say you were brave enough to try."

Octavian almost smiled at that. Almost. He didn't want Jason to get the idea that he'd inspired him or anything. But he did feel a bit of confidence growing in his chest.

"So what do you say, Callidus," Jason smiled, "why don't you go find your dream girl and apologize, like a man."

Octavian stood, "fine, I'll go apologize... but I'm doing it for the sake of the quest. Not because of your stupid advice..."

"Whatever you say Octavian," Jason grinned. Octavian turned to the exit to look for the daughter of Nemesis, "Oh and Octavian!"

Octavian looked over his shoulder at the son of Jupiter.

"If you even think about hurting her. And I mean in any way, shape, or form, I will find you, and I will strangle you," Jason said with a not so friendly smile.

"Right..." Octavian said shivering. With that Octavian rushed off to find Raven. If only he knew where in the Amazon's giant factory to look...


	31. Octavian 31

Octavian

Octavian might never had found Raven if she hadn't been so loud.

Octavian supposed she had the liberty to be loud since she'd tucked herself into a secluded corner of the factory, without a soul around to hear her. Which was a good thing since some of the things she was saying would have gotten her thrown into the little tiber back at camp.

From the sound of her footsteps Raven was pacing in frustration across the concrete factory floor. Octavian stopped an aisle over to listen to Raven's seething. Amongst the yelling and ranting, Octavian made out a few coherent words, which seemed to be something graceful, along the line of, "Stupid...no good lying...inconsiderate power hungry jerk!"

Octavian took a breath, repeating Jason's advice in his head. _Control your temper_. _Control your temper. Control your temper... _

Octavian was about to interrupted her, but he stopped short when it struck him.

She wasn't just ranting... She was talking to someone...

He heard a male's voice, much softer than Raven's but definitely present. It didn't say much, just a low _hmmm_ or a soft _huh_... Ever so often, telling her to keep going.

"Gods! You wouldn't believe what a smug, selfish, rude, insufferable Imbecile he is! I hate him!" Raven was saying. In curiosity Octavian inched closer to the peered through the selves only to see, Raven with her arms folded across her chest, talking to...no one?

No, that couldn't be right. Octavian was sure that he'd heard a guy's voice. Still, he looked around and saw nothing... But sure enough a moment later he heard a deep smooth voice that seemed to come from nowhere.

"Raven," it said, sounding tired, "are you going to tell me who you're even talking about?"

Raven turned on her heels, "No, of course not! You still have a to wait a few years until you can meet him. If I tell you now everything will be compromised. The future could go up in flames! Camp would be in ruins and we'd have a massive war on our hands! But trust me when you do meet him, you will know exactly what I mean."

Octavian tensed uneasily. Did she just say _The_ _future_? As in... _the future?! _That was crazy... What could Raven Blouse possibly know about the future? She was no prophet and certainly wasn't an augur. He leaned in. If Raven really did know something about the future, not to say that she did, Octavian wanted to know what.

"Sorry," Raven put her hand to her temple, "here I am going on and on about some stupid creep while you're... Well, how is she..?"

There was a pause.

"She...she isn't doing so good, Raven," Octavian didn't think a disembodied voice could sound so heartbroken without a face to complete the look, but Raven's phantom friend seemed to do the job pretty well, "if something isn't done soon she's going to die and not even her father can save her than..."

"Hey," Raven said, in such a soft and soothing voice it made Octavian's heart feel like it was melting, "everything is going to be alright. I can't tell you what's going to happen exactly, but I can tell you that this is all happening for the better..! Everything is as it should be."

There was a long pause. So long, in fact, that Octavian leaned forward to see if perhaps they had fallen silent for some reason other than their conversation topic. In doing so Octavian's elbowed something that looked like a bronze shield. The scrapping of bronze shield against the steel storage shelves echoed against off the walls of the factory, disturbing the silence. Raven turned quickly swiping her hand the through the air like she was batting away dust. She leaned down picking up what looked like a crystal and a rubber duck...?

Octavian shook his head. Surely he was seeing things.

Octavian cursed as Raven peered around the area, drawing her bronze dagger, getting that serious and deadly look in her eyes. It was that look that made Octavian sure Raven was the best soldier he'd ever seen. That was the look of a true Roman.

Octavian decided his best move was to show himself, walking over casually like he'd just wandered over. He stuck his hands in his jean pockets as Raven met his eyes with an exasperated sigh, putting her dagger away.

"Just so you know" Raven said, shooting him a death glare, "when someone storms off, they don't want to be found."

Octavian paused. He'd said he was going to apologize, but that's as far as he'd gotten. He didn't actually plan out what he was going to say when he got here, so now that he was here he probably said something super intelligent, like "Um... Yeah..."

Raven sighed, "Jason told you to find me, didn't he. Well at least he's back." She shouldered her backpack and huffed as she pushed past him.

"Wait..!" Octavian said, turning with the intent to grab her wrist, but thinking better of it and retracting his hand. Raven stared at him with a raised eyebrow and looking at him like he was crazy, "Jason didn't send me."

"Oh..?" Raven asked, turning him with her arms folded across her chest.

"I came because I wanted to..." He choked on his pride taking a minute to struggle with the words, before forcing them out, "say I was sorry..."

There was a moment of silence as Raven went through about a hundred facial expressions before settling on a bewildered look, "_you _wanted to say you were _sorry..?" _

Octavian sighed, bewildered was at least better than glaring. He looked down slightly, trying to avoid Raven's eyes. He scratched at the SPQR tattoo on his arm. It caught him a little off guard, since it was something he'd done whenever he got nervous when he was little. something he hadn't had a need for in years,

"Yeah," Octavian frowned, "Just so you know Probatio, I don't usually admit this to anyone, but what I said was...it was _stupid_..."

"You mean _you _were stupid," Raven corrected placing a hand on her hip.

"Yeah whatever," Octavian shot her a glare, in embarrassment "don't get big headed or anything. At least I know when to admit I'm wrong."

Raven stared him in the eyes and for a moment Octavian thought she was going to get mad and start yelling at him. He wouldn't have blamed her, he kind of deserved it, and that was something Octavian didn't admit to himself lightly. He hated taking the blame for things. But this was actually his fault, he couldn't deny that. Besides, if he wanted an actual shot with Raven he didn't to stop with all the mind games and be honest. It was the only way Raven would ever respect him.

Finally after a moment or two Raven Shrugged, "I suppose that's true. It must take a lot for you to swallow your pride, I'll give you that much."

She passed him and even went as far as to give him a half-hearted pat on the shoulder before walking off muttering under her breath. Octavian, of course, was over the moon. He grinned and followed Raven, a step or two behind keeping quiet, not wanting to ruin his own mini win.

The two demigods made their way back to camp and Raven flopped on the air mattresses next to Jason who had obviously been falling asleep, but he gave her a sleepy grin when he saw her. Octavian couldn't stop the jealousy that he felt bubble up in his chest but he knew better than to say anything. He'd made the mistake enough times to know insulting the son of Jupiter would only make him look better in Raven's eyes by comparison. Besides even if Octavian hated to admit it, Jason's advice had worked. Raven had even patted him on the shoulder. Jason had earned him an hour or two of his tolerance. He'd simply have to save his anger for when Jason actually screwed up. Octavian assumed he wouldn't have to wait long.

"Ugh," Raven whined, flopping on top of Jason, "Life..."

Jason raised an eyebrow at her, smiling amused, "Life?"

"It's difficult," she elaborated, her eyes drifting up to land on his new bandages, her facial expression changing into one of surprise and concern, "What happened to your head?"

Octavian snorted, "He thought he could take on a group of Amazons, like an idiot..."

Octavian immediately shut his mouth cursing at himself as he received two narrow-eyed looks from his two traveling companions. A glare from Raven, telling him to shut it before she smacked him upside the head, and a look from Jason that said _Come on man! Stop screwing this up!_

Octavian responded to Jason's look with one of his own that said, _I'm trying!_

Raven turned back to Jason with a concerned pout and tentatively brushed her fingertips over his forehead, as if the action would help soothe the pain. Octavian didn't think it would but he had to admit the gesture was sweet, but the fact that Jason was on the receiving end only made him more irritable.

"Does it hurt much?" She asked.

Jason smiled and shook his head, "No, I'm fine, don't worry. Octavian patched me up, see? It doesn't even hurt that much."

Raven crinkled her nose, "Octavian knows first aid?"

Octavian didn't know what to be more insulted by, the fact that nobody believed he had any healing abilities, despite the fact that he was a legacy of Apollo and his mother was a famous healer, or the fact that Raven and Jason were talking as though he wasn't standing right in front of them.

"Yeah, well, whatever," Octavian huffed, grabbing his sleeping bag from the pile, "It doesn't matter whether a patched your boyfriend up or not because it's not like I care or anything. I'm going to bed."

The two stared at him and his odd rambling. Jason actually facepalmed. Gods damn it, where were his speaking skills when he needed them? He felt himself take on a shade of light blush and shot them both a glare, and turned to set up start setting up his things on the opposite side of the camp before thinking better of it, stopping and turning to Raven one last time, "And for your information, yes, I know first aid."

Then he quickly turned from the two and started setting up his things, only stopping for a moment to glance up at Jason, who was whisper something in Raven's ear, causing her to glance over in Octavian's direction and burst out into a fit of giggles. Octavian felt his face burn and looked back down at his hands.

Being in love was definitely the most frustrating feeling in the world.

* * *

The lights in the factory shut off all at once, just moment after Octavian returned to the campsite with Raven. Octavian didn't go to sleep for a long time though. He stayed awake for hours, thinking.

Winning Raven's favor seemed impossible. He seemed to have taken a step in the right direction by apologizing to her but still he felt impossibly far away. It was as if every time he took a step forward his own brain decided to screw him over, forcing him to take two steps back.

Being nicer to her sounded like a great plan in theory but not so much in execution. How did one just simply change their whole personality in an instant? Jason said he would help him but Octavian wasn't so sure of that. After all they'd never been friends and it didn't benefit Jason at all to help him, so why would he? After all people most certainly didn't do things just to be nice…

Raven and Jason stayed awake on the other side of the campsite as well, talking by the light of a lantern (which Jason finally had to show Raven how to turn on) with stupid grins painted on their faces. Raven was telling some story about a lightning bolt and the underworld making big gestures with her hand from inside her sleeping bag while Jason lay on his stomach listening intently.

Octavian listened as well but from afar.

"And then we crush the pearls at our feet and we rose up through the earth," Raven explained, "Which would have been cool except..."

"Except Percy was made at you," Jason finished for her.

Raven nodded, "He had a right to be. I shouldn't have done what I did. I made it up to him later but sometimes I still think about it, and I get this really awful feeling in my stomach. I don't think I'll ever stop feeling ashamed of what I did. I wanted to make him understand but I couldn't."

Jason nodded, "We all do things we're not proud of Raven. It's the human part of you. But as for understanding, I'm sorry but I don't really understand either. How did you know all these things anyway?"

"See Jason, I'd like to make you understand but I can't," Raven frowned.

"Uh-huh" Jason nodded, "I see you come across that problem often."

"You have no idea," Raven sighed.

The talking stopped there. The lantern got turned off shortly after by Jason and there was silence in the factory. Octavian stayed awake thinking for as long as his brain would allow. Octavian listened Raven's tale through and he had to admit, he didn't understand either. In her tale, she always seemed to know what was going to happen before it happened. It brought his mind back to the words he'd overheard her speak in the back corner of the factory. How the future could go up in flames if she said the wrong thing.

Could Raven actually know the future? It seemed impossible. He tried to imagine what it would be like to have all that knowledge. To know the outcome that fate had planned for you and to be ready for it. Octavian could hardly contain the whirling sensation in his chest the thought made. All that power… It was basically what he'd been searching for his whole life. If it were true when Raven handed him the book of prophecies it had only been a glimmer of the knowledge she possessed. There was so much more potential waiting to be tapped within her.

But Octavian's mind could help but wander back to Raven's face in the low light of the lantern, with her downturned eyes and soft lips curved down into a slight frown and her eyebrows furrowed slightly pained as she recalled the memory.

_I wanted to make him understand, but I couldn't._

Octavian could help but think that over as well. If his theory was right, than even with all the knowledge in the world, Raven still she didn't use it to make the guy she wanted like her. She used it to do what was right, and Octavian just couldn't wrap his mind around it. He could wrap his mind around that kind of mind-set.

And that was how Octavian already knew he didn't have a chance with Raven Blouse, because even with all the knowledge in the world, all she wanted was for someone to understand, and that just wasn't something he could do… Not now anyway.

But yet again. It was only a theory. And a crazy one at that. Chances were Raven didn't know the future. Octavian was just letting his mind wander in weird directions. After all, Raven was just a normal demigod. An extraordinary demigod, but normal all the same, and her story was probably just that. A story.

With that one last comforting thought, Octavian let himself drift off.

* * *

Octavian woke up at least three hours earlier than he'd meant to.

When he awoke there was a strange sound, like a mix between the crunching sound of eating cereal and the sound of rusted metal being bent. He sat there laying on his side for a good two minute, trying to decide whether or not he even wanted to open his eyes to see what it was. Finally his decision was made for him when he heard a snorting noise that sounded like a horse's nostrils flaring.

Octavian's eyes flew open and he sat up.

The sound he'd heard that sounded like a horse's nostrils flaring, had actually _been _a horse's nostrils flaring.

Octavian had sat up to come face to face with a large golden brown horse with black markings, and big black, mean looking, eyes. Octavian would have sat there staring at the thing all night in fear, if his eyes hadn't lowers half an inch to see what the horse was chewing on.

His Imperial gold dagger.

"HEY!" Octavian screamed in outrage, two octaves higher than he'd meant too, "THAT IS CEREMONIAL!"

Octavian lunged forward to grab the dagger out of the horse's mouth but as soon as he moved the horse was gone, like a ghost. The sounds of hoofs echoed throughout the factory from all directions. Jason and Raven were already up and arm, although they looked tired and disoriented.

"What is that?" Raven asked, as the hoofbeats against cement echoed closer and farther away on all sides, "What happened? Is everyone alright?"

"No!" Octavian yelled, his face red, "Damn horse took my dagger!"

Raven gave him a confused look, but her attention was soon drawn away but a sound of a booming crash no less than ten aisles over, followed by the sounds of shattering glass and creaking metal. The three demigods raised their eyes to see a cloud of dust raise into the air.

"I think one of the storage shelves fell over," Jason said in shock.

In the distance Octavian could hear shouting and the sound of footsteps before light flooded the room and alarms blared. Suddenly he could see Camilla standing outside her office on the catwalk shouting order at the Amazons who rushed around the factory flood in groups shouting wildly.

Raven screamed and jumped in surprise as the shelf one aisle over was knocked over, shaking the ground beneath their feet, Debris fell around with an ear shattering crash. The shelf fell into the shelf next to it, knocking it over as well like a set of dominos. Raven, Jason and Octavian ducked covering their heads to protect themselves.

The sound of a loud whiny bounced off the walls. It seemed to come from the other side of the factory. But hadn't it just knocked the shelf next to them over? How could it be in two places at once?

Suddenly out of the corner of his eye Octavian saw a blinding streak of golden brown moving so fast it was a mere blur across his line of sight.

_Oh…_ Octavian thought, _That's how. _

Octavian ran to the opening in their campsite and looked out over the destruction being caused around the factory. Amazon's rushed around and shouted direction. Camilla was gone now. Off to join the others Octavian supposed. There was another crash, this time across the factory. This time the horse seemed to have knocked over several of the storage shelves.

Raven and Jason joined Octavian in the entrance, but all three of them jumped back as the golden brown streak came running past them, barreling through a group of Amazons who screamed in outrage and terror.

"How is it moving so fast?" Jason asked wide eyes, "No horse is that fast..."

"One is," Raven breathed, as though she couldn't believe it herself, "Arion..."

Octavian to look at Raven quizzically but Raven didn't seem up to answering any questions because she was already pushing past him, running down the middle of the aisle, as opposed to the others who rushed around keeping close to the storage shelves and out of Arion's path, her eyes trained up at the catwalk all the while.

"Raven!" Octavian shouted over the noise, "Get back here! It's too dangerous!"

But Raven wasn't listening. She disappeared around a corner, but even the blaring alarms couldn't drown out the sound of her voice.

"Camilla!?" She called, "Camilla where are you?!"

Octavian bite his lip and looked around. If Raven kept running around so carelessly that damn horse would run her over, and that was a death sentence given how much damage the thing could cause to a storage shelves five times it's size. A mere girl, no matter how strong, would stand no chance.

Octavian groaned.

_You are an idiot,_ His brain told him, _A complete and utter idiot._

But still, he ran after her.

Octavian followed the sound of her voice to where she stood in the middle of the aisle, finally having spotted Camilla on the catwalk trying to maintain order in the chaos. Raven grinned in relief,

"Camilla!" She waved her arms, and shouted, "I know what to do! I know what-"

But before Raven could finish her sentence there was a flash of brown fur and in the blink of an eye Raven was standing in front of Arion, her eyes widened in fear. The horse gave a loud ear shattering whiny and raised its front hooves, ready to trample Raven's tiny figure.

In an instant it was as if Octavian didn't have control over his body. He sprinted forward and pushed Raven out of the way, falling to the ground and taking the brunt of the blow himself.

Arion's hooves came down on him and Octavian felt a sharp pain spread across his back as Arion left a long jagged cut over his shoulder blade. Satisfied the horse ran off again to cause havoc. A red hot burning spread mercilessly across Octavian's back, causing him to draw in a sharp pained breath.

_Great,_ He thought to himself, _Now look what you did. It's called self-preservation for a reason, smart-one._

Octavian heard shouting a couple feet away. It was Camilla shouting, "Quick! Catch him before he gets away!" Octavian was confused. Why on earth would someone want to capture that thing? There was a chorus of shouting and screaming and one last distant whine before Octavian heard the sound of Camilla's outraged scream. "He got away! Again!"

Raven, who'd finally snapped out of the shock of what just happened, stared up at Camilla on the catwalk than over at Octavian, with a conflicted expression. Finally she shook her head and rushed to Octavian's side with a worried look.

Octavian wished he could get a look at the cut himself to assess the damage, but it turned out he didn't need to because Raven's reaction told the whole story.

"Oh gods," she gasped a little as Octavian struggled to sit up.

Raven helped up to sit up, using her arms for support. He winced in pain and shivered as he felt a thick stream of blood trickle down his spine, which probably wasn't good. He growled in frustration. Why had he done something so idiotic? If Raven had gotten hit it would have been her own fault for running off carelessly. It wasn't his responsibility to save her.

Raven made a small whining noise, with a guilty expression on her face, "This is all my fault..."

Octavian felt the strong urge to reply, saying 'Yes. Yes it is you wreckless good-for-nothing Probatio fool', but his eyelids were starting to feel heavy, which was a definite sign he was losing too much blood so he settled for, "Yeah, whatever. Just find me a doctor, would ya?"

Raven nodded and started calling for help, but Octavian didn't stay awake long enough to see if anyone came. He felt Raven's arms curl around him to keep him from falling to the concrete floor and he felt his head lay against her chest before surrendering himself to unconsciousness. The only thought in his mind being:

_This is so stupid._


	32. Jason 32

**Author's Note: Hey guys! Here's the new chapter, finally. Sorry it took so long, I just got caught up in writing my new Harry Potter Fanfiction but I finally made myself write this. It's kind of short and nothing really exciting happens but you're going to wanna pay attention because this stuff becomes important later. Also before anyone says anything: Yes, I know that's not how the story of how Neptune and Ceres had Arion goes, but come on people, I'm trying to keep it G (or in this case K) here! lastly: Please review! Please and thank you!**

Jason

Jason sat with Raven outside the area the Amazons had squared off to treat the injured. Groans and complaints echoes throughout the area and Amazon warriors rushed in and out of the area in a hurry, carrying bandages and gauze. Luckily, It seemed no one had been seriously hurt. Well, except for…

Jason heard Raven sniffle slightly, wiping her damp eyes for the millionth time. She'd been a mess for hours, switching between sobbing and sniffling silently. Jason's chest clenched as he watched a few more tears roll down her red blotchy cheeks. He couldn't imagine how she must feel.

"Come on, Raven," Jason tried to console her, once again, although he knew it would be in vain, "There's no way you could have known he'd do that It's not your fault…"

"You're wrong, it is my fault!" Raven cried miserably, "He jumped in front of Arion to save me, he's supposed to be the selfish one why would he do that?! It should be me in there!"

Jason couldn't help but shake his head. He knew exactly why Octavian had done what he did, but he wasn't about to tell Raven that, first off that would have only made her feel that much worse, and second off, if anyone was to tell Raven about that, it should be Octavian himself. Although, Jason had no idea why Raven needed someone _to _tell her. It was so obvious. Sure it had taken Jason a bit to piece it all together, but now that Jason had figured it out that hints were pretty hard to miss. The longing looks towards the black haired girl and how he would always throw out a nasty comment to try and hide his blushing.

Thinking about it before, the only reason he'd helped Octavian was because he assumed Octavian never stood a chance. Raven wasn't interested in him at all. Jason had just thought perhaps the chance would force him to act a bit more gentlemanly. But now, Jason was starting to think Raven didn't hate Octavian as much as he'd thought. He still didn't think she liked him enough to consider being his girlfriend (that was a scary thought) but she definitely didn't hate him, or at least, not as much as she thought she did. Why else would she be such a mess?

Thinking about that, Jason had to admire Raven a little bit for that. The thing was, ever since Raven had arrived at camp, Octavian had been nothing but cruel and spiteful towards her, and yet, here she was shedding tears over his getting hurt. Jason couldn't think of another person at camp who would be crying for Octavian if they were in Raven situation, and Jason really couldn't imagine Octavian doing the same if things were reversed.

As soon as Jason thought it he kicked himself, after all, things very well could have been reversed. The only reason they weren't was because Octavian had decided to do something selfless and noble for once in his life. He had gone out of his way saved Raven and got hurt in the process, and Jason was still over here thinking badly of him. He knew that was pretty bad, and although Jason doubted he would never think badly of Octavian again, he knew the least he could do was reframe while the poor guy recovered.

Raven sniffled again.

"Stupid augur," she mutter, "I swear If the horse didn't kill him, I'm going to."

It was the fifth time Raven had made that threat, and Jason was starting to think of it less and less like a threat and more like a promise. In fact he was starting to hope the gash on Octavian's back really did kill him, because whatever Raven had planned for him if it didn't was going to be ten times worse.

Finally Camilla walked out of the medical area and placed her hands on her hips, blowing a strand of red hair from her face. She turned to the two, ignoring Jason as she addressed Raven. Even in situations of disaster, Amazons were still Amazons.

"Your friend lost a lot of blood but we stitched up the cut as best we could and gave him some painkillers," Camilla said, "He should be fine, but he'll be knocked out for the next few hours. I'm going to recommend we let him rest for a while, so no visits until tomorrow at least."

Raven let out a sigh of relief, "Thank the gods..."

Jason was relieved as well, but he couldn't help the hint of concern that hit him as well. What about the quest? How would they travel with Octavian being so injured, and didn't they have to make it to Miami by a certain time? Jason waited until Camilla walked away again to ask Raven.

"Raven," Jason frowned, "the quest. I thought you said we needed to be at Miami beach by a certain time, so we could find that boat you were talking about?"

"Yeah," Raven nodded, "We'll have to be there in three days time..."

"Three days?!" Jason's eyes widened, "Octavian could be on bed rest for that long!"

"I know," She bite her lip, "but there's no other way. If my mother's scales are anywhere, they're there. Malcolm's going to try and use them to turn the tides of war in his favor… We can't let that happen..."

"Tides of war..?" Jason asked, concerned, "what war?"

"It's complicated," Raven frowned, "you'll understand soon."

"Oh..." Jason frowned as well, not really getting an answer, but Jason found that was often the case with Raven. Raven very rarely did straight answers, "Well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens… But I'd still like to see what's going on with the Amazons and that horse..."

"Me too," Raven agreed, "I wonder why he was attacking them… I mean, sure the Amazons and Arion don't have the most friendly relationship, but I didn't think he'd be attacking their bases and factories like this."

"I wonder..." Jason mused, eyebrows knit into a look of concern.

Raven turned to face Jason placing her hands on her hips, "Come on, I think we should pick up camp and get packed up before we go talk to Camilla. She has enough on her plate right now, and it will be one less thing to do later. If there's one thing I know for sure, we need to leave as soon as possible."

"Right."

Jason and Raven wandered back to camp in silence, looking at the wreckage Arion had caused in his rampage. Jason was shocked that a single horse could do so much damage. Steel storage shelves ten times taller and much heavier than any horse had been knocked over and smashed, with big dents in the metal.

Boxes of everything from computers and Iphones to bronze and gold shields and weapons lay in scattered piles around the factory floor. Shattered glass littered the floor and he could see gold swords with large chunks taken out of them, almost as if something had taken a bite out of it. Jason gulped.

"Hey Raven," Jason whispered, "I might be wrong but I think Arion..."

He pointed to the bite marks in a golden breastplate.

"No, you're not wrong," Raven frowned, "Arion is the world's fastest horse, he's the son of Po- er, Neptune and Ceres, he eats gold."

"Wait…" Jason said, his brain hurting just a little, "Two gods had a horse child?"

Raven shrugged, "It's a long story, but basically Neptune kept making on advances on Ceres but she rejected him and turned herself into a mare to escape him, so Neptune turned into a stallion to follow her. Impressed by his determination, she fell for him and they had Arion..."

"Oh..." Jason said, "Still makes no sense to me, but whatever. Gods are so weird."

"Tell me about it," Raven agreed.

The two finally made it to their camp and Raven jogged over to her and Jason's side of the camp to pack up their things, stuffing her things in her magical bag that could fit anything. She brushed her raven curls from her face as she let the air out of the air mattresses. Jason walked over to Octavian's side to pack his things for him.

Jason wasn't surprised to see it the way it was. It was very typical of Octavian. All his stuff was organized and neat, his clothes were all folded carefully and put away in his bag. The only thing that seemed out of order was his sleeping bag, which was a mess from when he'd jumped out of it, because of Arion, screaming something about his dagger.

Speaking of his dagger, Jason noticed something glittering on the ground by his bed. Jason picked up Octavian's dagger and examined it. He cringed a little, noticing the big bite that had been taken out of it. Octavian would not be happy. He always went on about that dagger, saying that it was ceremonial and helped him "Channel the Gods."

He put the dagger in Octavian's bag and grabbed his sleeping bag and pulled it off the air mattress to be folded. But Jason abandoned that task as soon as he noticed something tumble from the folds of the bag and bounce onto the mattress.

Jason narrowed his eyes at the object that had landed on the mattress. A small leather bond book. It was the same book Octavian had been reading on the train. The one he'd handled with such care that Jason had known it was Octavian's prized possession. It had looked like some book of poetry. Knowing how important the book was to Octavian almost made Jason refrain from taking a look inside. Almost

But yet again, it was just a book. What harm could it do? It wasn't like it was Octavian's diary, even Octavian wasn't girly enough to have a diary. Besides, Jason already knew that Octavian was in love with Raven so it wasn't like he was going to find anything more embarrassing and if there was anything in there about Octavian backstabbing and blackmailing, well, Jason wanted to know that so he could finally convince Cameron Octavian couldn't be trusted with power. Even if Octavian had sacrificed himself for the girl he liked, Octavian was still a lying snake, and Octavian and power was just a bad idea.

Jason picked up the book carefully and flipped it open to the page Octavian had obviously been looking at most, based on the cresses in the binding of the book. There were only a few lines on the page, and Jason noticed that this page looked a lot older than the others, and he could see a strip of golden along the page's binding. He read the lines carefully:

_Seven half-bloods shall answer the call,_

_To storm or fire, the world must fall,_

_An oath to keep with a final breath,_

_And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death_

Jason's face whitened. He knew that first line. Of course he did. Everyone at Camp Jupiter did. They called it the Great Prophecy, and Octavian had been obsessed with it ever since he translated that dumb line, although he had no idea what the rest of the Prophecy was. That is until now, apparently.

Jason flipped through the pages of the book frantically, opening to another page with a few more lines scrawled over the page again:

_Three shall go to the city where light never dies_

_To ask the gods to crown a leader and ally_

_One will be lost in the name of Rome_

_And one shall be crowned and sent back home_

_A choice will be made by one of the three_

_To set honor a leader or dishonor their memory_

Jason knew this Prophecy as well, although he hadn't heard it since he was eight. It was complicated, but before Cameron became Praetor, the job almost went to another girl, Mia, but when Angela had asked the Gods to bless her as their leader they'd given their former Augur this prophecy instead. Cameron and Carson had been sent to escort Mia to ask the gods to crown her as Praetor. However Mia had died before they could get there and Jupiter made Cameron Praedor instead.

It sounded like quite an exciting and magical quest, but apparently the whole ordeal had been quite scarring for both Cameron and Carson both. Carson had been drinking ever since and Cameron changed after that quest. She was, well, Cameron.

Jason read a couple different Prophecies, some he recognized, and others he had never seen before in his life, but either way Jason was liking this less and less. He had heard Octavian's endless droning about his stupid books of Prophecy, but he hadn't paid it much mind, mostly because he was fairly certain Cameron would never let him go to rome to get them. But he wasn't liking the idea of Octavian having one in his possession. That was way too much power for Octavian to have, power Jason knew he'd exploit.

Not knowing what else to do, Jason snuck a quick glance over to Raven before slipping Octavian's book into his bag quickly and zipped it close. He'd figure out what to do with it...eventually…

"Jason," Raven called, "Come on are you done over there?"

Jason finished packing up Octavian's things quickly and set them aside quickly with the rest of their stuff, feeling uneasy about the book he now had stored in his bag. Octavian would not be happy when he noticed it was missing. Jason just wondered how he'd gotten it in the first place...

Jason and Raven found Camilla back at her office on the catwalk , she was yelling at a couple of Amazons, her face as red as her hair. She turned towards the two demigods and quieted her voice, whispering a few more orders to the Amazons, who rushed off in a hurry. She sighed, massaging her temples to fight a headache. She sent Jason and Raven a less than pleased look.

"I don't mean to be rude my friend," She told Raven, "But as you can see I have a base to clean up and more than a few of my warriors were injured last night. We're kind of in a state of disaster at the moment and I can't afford any distraction..."

"That's what we wanted to talk to you about." Raven said, quietly, "What exactly happened last night?"

Camilla sighed. "That's privileged information, Raven, this war is between that monster of a horse, and the Amazon warriors."

"With all due respect, Queen Camilla," Raven replied, a sort of firmness in her voice, "Our friend got hurt in this war of your's, so I think we have the right to at least know why, and if we can we'd like to help."

Camilla gave the two a stone cold look and Jason almost thought the Amazon queen would wanted to send them away but after a long silence she gave the two a hard glare and waved her hand for them to follow, turning on her heels and walking into her office. Jason looked at Raven and they exchanged a small look of concern as they followed the Queen of the Amazons

* * *

"Oh no," Camilla stopped Jason outside her office, "Not him."

Camilla was glaring at Jason with hard blue eyes. She had her hand on his chest to keep him from following them into her office where Raven was already sitting. Jason blinked a couple of time at her with wide eyes, unsure of what he'd done wrong this time. It seemed as though he was always doing something wrong when it came to the Amazons. And that something was called being male.

"What's wrong?" Raven asked, confused.

"If you want me to tell you of Arion, and the problems we Amazons have been having with him, then so be it," Camilla turned to Raven, her hand still on Jason's chest, "But I do not answer to him. Not to a male. This talk will be between you and me, Raven. Alone."

"But-" Jason argued.

"It's fine, Jason" Raven sighed, "Just let Camilla and me talk alone, and I'll fill you in on what I know later. In the meantime, why don't you go contact camp and tell them what's happening?"

"But..." Jason frowned, confused, "How am I supposed to do that? We're not allowed to use phone at camp, it attracts monsters, it's too dangerous. Even if I had a phone, I'd have no one to call..."

"Then Iris message someone," Raven said, "Here I'll show you,"

Raven stood up, digging a few trinkets out of her pockets. She held her hand out to the confused blond, showing him the crystal prism, rubber duck flashlight, and strange bronze coin in her hand.

"Look, you take the flashlight and the prism and you make a rainbow, when you've done that, you say this: 'Oh Iris, goddess of the Rainbow, please accept my offering' then ask for the person you want to speak to and where they are. Then you toss the coin in," Raven explained, "You got that?"

"Oh Iris, goddess of the Rainbow..." Jason repeated the line silently to himself a couple times. He wasn't really sure he understood how this whole Iris messaging thing worked, and he had no idea why he'd never heard of it before. Where did Raven learn it? He decided these were questions that could be saved for later since Camilla was already looking impatient. Raven pressed the flashlight, crystal, and coin into his hand and turned back to Camilla, shutting the door behind her. And with that, Jason was left to wander around the factory while the woman talked.

Jason stared down at the objects in his hand, a bit mystified. He could contact camp with these..? It didn't seem possible. For some reason the method of communication, no matter how harmless it sounded, felt almost... _Foreign_. He almost felt as though he wasn't supposed to use this whole Iris messaging system. It made him uneasy...

But, of course, that was silly. It was obvious that Raven had done this before, and nothing bad had happened to her, and besides, she wouldn't suggest anything dangerous to him. He trusted her. And it was true that they needed to contact camp. With all that had happened with the Amazons and with Octavian getting hurt, Cameron would want to know what was going on…

But maybe… He'd save contacting camp for later...

Instead, Jason pocketed the supplies Raven had lent him and made his way down, off the catwalk and down to the make-shift infirmary Jason and Raven had been camped out in front of earlier. He peered inside carefully, over the sea of brightly colored hammocks and air mattresses, serving as cots of the injured and lawn chairs where other Amazons sat getting small scratches and cuts taken care of. Slowly Jason snuck into the medical area unnoticed and found Octavian's cot towards the back. It was where he and Jason and Raven had helped drop him off earlier before promptly being kicked out and made to wait outside for more news, despite Raven's angry protests.

Jason knew Camilla had said no visitors until tomorrow, and he knew the that Octavian needed his rest but no one had stopped him and he was more than a little anxious to see how Octavian was doing. He was hoping the guy would wake up soon. Jason didn't know if he'd either punch him or thank him when he woke up but he knew it would be one if the two. But from the looks of things, Octavian wouldn't be waking up anytime soon.

Octavian was passed out cold, although he still looked as though he was in pain. But mostly he looked pale. Which, yeah, he always did, but Octavian had always been pale from sitting inside too much, reading or doing whatever it was that Augurs do, but this was different. Octavian was white as a sheet, his eyes had dark brown circles around them and he was sweating terribly, which Jason supposed was from the blood loss and fighting infection and so on and forth. He had big white bandages wrapped around his middle and his right shoulder, which covered the newly stitched gash across his back, and if Jason looked closely, the blond boy was shaking.

Jason frowned and pulled the covers up higher to cover Octavian to stop his shivering. It felt as though he had a fever. But that was good, right..? It meant his body was fighting off any infection.

One of the Amazon doctors, Hannah, who'd been looking after Octavian, wandered over. Jason was thankful to have her looking after his traveling companion, because frankly, he didn't see any of the other Amazons caring nearly as much about Octavian as she did. Unlike the others, Hannah didn't seem to care that Octavian or Jason were guys, she spoke softly and worked quickly, feeding him a yellowish pastry square, which Jason had seen her do a few times, but not often. He wondered what it was, but he didn't ask.

"You know, sitting here won't make him wake up sooner," Hannah said, although it wasn't in a mean way, "I with all the painkillers, he won't be up in until tonight, at least. I mean, hopefully he'll be mostly healed by then, so he won't be in too much pain when he wakes up..."

"Mostly healed?" Jason blinked, in amazement, "But how?"

Jason felt like he'd been asking that a lot today.

"Ambrosia squares," Hannah gestured to the yellowish pastry, "and Nectar. It's the food of the gods. In small amounts it will heal demigods, but too much will make a demigod burn up. That's why I'm giving it to him a little at a time..."

Jason felt more questions forming on his tongue but Hannah finished her work and walked away as quickly as she has came. Jason watched Octavian, and to his amazement, a bit of color had returned to his face. Jason wondered what Octavian would think of the treatment if he were awake, since it certainly wasn't Roman… But Jason couldn't complain. This Ambrosia stuff seemed to be working great, even if it wasn't Roman.

With a bit more confidence Jason slipped away from the infirmary and grabbed the crystal and flashlight Raven had gave him from his jean pocket, wandering into a quieter part of the factory and settled down on the ground, legs folded criss-cross style.

Jason fiddled with the rubber duck flashlight Raven had given him until it turned on and pointed it on the pyramid shaped crystal on the ground in front of him. In an instant, a bright colored rainbow appeared on the wall opposite him. Taking a deep breath, he pulled the small bronze coin Raven had given him from his pocket.

Feeling a little silly, Jason repeated the words Raven had said earlier, "Oh Iris, goddess of the Rainbow, please accept my offering, show me…"

Jason paused. Who did he want to call. Cameron was the first logical choice but there was nothing worse than giving Cameron bad news, and she would not be pleased to hear that her augur had gotten hurt. So, Carson maybe? But it was noon, so it was likely he was still passed out somewhere or drunk or something, but whatever the situation was, there wouldn't remember a word Jason had said after the conversation was done. A moment later, Jason came up with a solution and made up his mind as to who he was going to call.

"Show me Grace Scott at Camp Jupiter," Jason finished, "um, please..?"

Half expecting it to bounce harmlessly off the wall and drop to the floor, Jason tossed to coin into the colorful light. But to his surprise, the coin disappeared into the rainbow, as if absorbed by the wall. Jason jumped a little and the hairs on his arms stood straight up.

A moment later that rainbow's bright colors began to shift and change, creating an image on the wall, like a video chat on Skype. A halo of bright colors circled the image of a girl sitting in the grass reading a big wordy book, her hair pulled off her freckled face and tied back into a curly side ponytail. She wore imperial armor over her purple Camp Jupiter Tee-Shirt and white floral patterned jeans. She leaned casually against her Imperial gold helmet and flipped the pages of her book lazily. From the sounds he could hear in the background she was sitting in the grass by the Fields of Mars, skipping out on the preparations for that night's war games.

"Gracie!" Jason called out to her, a bit louder than than he needed to. He wasn't completely sure she could hear him or not.

Gracie gave a little jump, startled by the noise, before looking up to see Jason's image in the air in front of her. Her eyes widened to an impossibly large size and she let out a high pitched yelp, flailing and falling backwards onto the , Jason thought, Guess she can hear me...

"Jason!?" Gracie stared at him in shock, sitting up and staring at him, mystified,"What the..? How did you-..? How are you…?"

"It's a long story, Gracie, I can't really explain it," Jason said rubbing the back of his neck. Honestly, It wasn't so much that he couldn't explain it to her, but that he was pretty sure he didn't want to explain it to her. He wasn't even sure he was supposed to be using this whole Iris message thing. He didn't want to get in trouble because of it, "Sorry I startled you."

"No, no, It's okay," Gracie assured him, "I'm fine. Nothing like a good old heart attack to keep you on your toes..."

"That's good," Jason agreed, "From the sounds of things, I'm assuming that camp has kept the war games going while we're gone. Shame, I miss it already. What's it tonight?"

"Tonight it's going to be Deathball," Gracie said with a grimace, "I'm almost scared to see what the outcome is going to be tonight. The first cohorts been practicing their aim all day, it's slightly terrifying."

Jason grimaced as well, "I know what you mean. I take it back, I don't miss it all that much… Anyway, that's not what I wanted to talk to you about. I wanted to talk to you about something important, but first, camp. How's camp doing? They're not… I mean-... They haven't, you know…?"

"You mean 'has the entire legion started a mass witch hunt for the camp spy?'" Gracie asked, "Because the answer is, thankfully, no."

"Okay… Good," Jason let out a sigh of relief, "I was worried… I figured they'd be okay but still, you've seen how they can be. I worry…"

"I understand, completely," Gracie agreed wholeheartedly, "Some of the campers are anxious but they're fine for the most part. Everyone's mostly hoping that your quest sets things straight."

"I wouldn't put too much hope into this quest…" Jason mumbled, "Listen, Gracie, Can you do me a favor and take down a message for Cameron? It's about the quest..."

"Sure thing, Jason, I got it," Gracie nodded.

She smiled at him sweetly, in that reliable and comforting way she always did. It was those little things about her that made Jason sure that, whatever he needed, he could trust Gracie to help him. Even though she was in the second cohort and Jason made an effort to hang out with kids from the fifth cohort for the most part, Gracie one of his closest friends at camp. She was only a year older than he was but she was already one of the go to people at camp when a problem arose. She was shy and soft spoken, but she was also determined and always willing to lend a hand, and that was one of the things Jason admired about her. She'd always been like that, but ever since Carson became Praetor, she'd really had to step it into high gear. Sometimes people would joke that Gracie was more Praetor than Carson was, and sometimes Jason had to admit that was true…

"Good," Jason smiled, "Tell Cameron that, um, there's been a slight delay in our quest. We had… Well, we kind of had a run in with a Amazon tribe, and we're stuck at their base, right now."

Gracie looked horrified, "You're being held hostage!?"

"No no!" Jason soothed the girl, "No, we're fine. Their queen ended up hitting it off with Raven, it's a long story. They offered us a place to stay for the night, but there was an attack and things are kind of a mess right now. The bottom line is, Octavian got hurt, so we can't go anywhere until he's feeling better."

Gracie looked at Jason with worried eyes, "Octavian got hurt? Oh geez, is he alright? What happened? Who attacked you?"

Jason almost laugh, "You're not gonna believe this, but… It was a horse."

"A horse?" Gracie clarified.

"I know," Jason agreed, "A real, live, actual horse attacked us. Weird, right? Raven seems to know more about it than I do but apparently the horses name was Arion and he and the amazons have been fighting for awhile. Raven's finding out more, now, but they won't let me listen in..."

"Arion…? Oh! I know that nae! I was just reading about him in one of my brother's old Greek mythology textbooks. Let's see…" She picked up the heavily worded book she had just been reading and flipped back a few pages, and scanned the text until she found what she was looking for, "Ah yes, Arion, son of Demeter and Poseidon, or, you know, Ceres and Neptune. It says here: 'Ceres tried to escape Neptune's advances by hiding in a herd of horses, owned by the ruler of Oncium, The Son of Apollo, Oncius.' So basically, Ceres gave birth to Arion while hiding among this herd and so Oncius kept him and later gave him to Hercules, who eventually gave him to Adrastus."

"And then he started trashing Amazon bases and hideouts," Jason concluded, "Stupid horse, goes from helping heroes to messing with them… I don't suppose there's anything in that book that's going to tell me how to catch him."

"Well, no," Gracie said, frowning sympathetically, "But I can tell you how you're not gonna catch him; 'there is no man that shall catch thee by a burst of speed, neither pass thee by, nay, not though in pursuit he were driving goodly Arion, the swift horse of Adrastus, that was of heavenly stock.' That's a quote from the Iliad."

"So basically we're not gonna outrun him, or anything like that..." Jason sighed, "Great."

"It's really a shame," Gracie said, "Neptune was so pushy, if only Ceres had as difficult to catch as Arion is. She thought she was safe when she hide in Oncius's herd, but right as she let her guard down, that's when Neptune snuck up on her."

"Wait," Jason narrowed his eyes at Gracie, "Repeat that."

Gracie looked confused but complied, "Ceres thought she was safe when she hide in Oncius's herd, but that's when Neptune snuck up on her."

"There is no man that shall catch thee by a burst of speed..." Jason repeated Gracie's words from earlier. The gears in his head were starting to turn. The more he thought about it the clearer it became. How do you catch a creature ten times faster that you are? Simple.

"You don't chase it," Jason said the last part aloud, turning to look back at his friend, "Gracie, that's it, you're a genius!"

Gracie blinked, "Wait, what?"

"I have to go," Jason declared, quickly "Listen, give my message to Cameron. Tell her that we got delayed and that Octavian got hurt, but, also, make sure you tell her that we have a plan. If anything goes wrong, it'll be my responsibility, but I'm determined to make this quest a successful one, if it's the last thing I do. You got that?"

Gracie seemed to understand because her lips curled into a big grin, "You got it, Jason."

"Thanks, Grace," Jason grinned back.

"Oh and Jason!" Gracie piped up, "Be careful, okay? And good luck!"

"Right," Jason agreed, and with that, Gracie reached over and swiped her hand through the image, breaking the connection and leaving Jason sitting, grinning, in the middle of the floor. He thought over the idea in his brain once more before scooping Raven's flashlight and prism off the floor and jumping to his feet, nearly tripping over himself on the way back to Camilla's office to tell the others his plan.


	33. Luke 33

**Author's Note: Hey guys! Sorry this took so long, I was kinda working a couple different angles with Luke's character for these, and upcoming chapters, so review and tell me what you think. I really wanna work on this angle with Luke not wanting to accept new people into his family and closing himself off to his siblings in the Hermes cabin and along the way learning to accept them and stuff, since that was kinda the theme of The Sea of Monsters, with accepting your family and such. Anyway, tell me what you think, and enjoy! **

Luke

Unfortunately, Luke morning hadn't been going very well either.

In fact, the past few weeks had been pretty tough in general, for him, but that morning had been the worst of them all. The morning sun coming over half-blood hill had rudely interrupted the first peaceful night's sleep he'd gotten in weeks and he'd slept in an odd position so it was painful to move his neck. He'd already known that Thalia's tree didn't make for the most comfortable bed in the world, but it was better than the alternative, which was waking up every hour or so due to the nightmares, which seemed to follow him around everywhere, except for Thalia's tree.

Luke groaned as he stretched his arms above his head and heard his back crack. His whole body was stiff from sleeping in his battle armor. It had been his turn to guard the borders, and he'd fallen asleep. He felt a bit guilty about that, but as far as he could tell, nothing had happened and he'd finally gotten some sleep.

The moment that idiot Tantalus had ordered the camp to stop border patrols, Luke had called an unofficial camp meeting behind the Zeus cabin and helped to make up their own border patrol schedule, coordinating with every cabin's free periods so that the camp would be guarded 24/7. Everyone either guarded during their break period or they napped so they couple take night duty. Mainly that's what Luke did. Luke always took night duty and he always took extra shifts on guard. Basically if he wasn't helping solve some camp crisis or talking with Annabeth about possible solutions to their problem, Luke was up on half blood hill guarding Thalia's tree. If anyone ask, he told them it was because he felt guilt asking his fellow campers to stay up but the real reason was that he didn't wanna leave Thalia's side. It was one of the only places where he felt at ease anymore. Thalia had always kinda had that effect on him, so her tree was the only place where Luke could get any sleep, without Kronos plaguing him with nightmares. Like she was protecting him.

Kronos's nightmares were the worst. Luke had thought he'd gotten rid of them forever ago, but ever since Thalia's tree had been poisoned, he'd been having them again. Kronos would plunge him into darkness and laugh at him as he taunted, How does it feel, Luke? To know that you're weak? To know that your friend is dying and there's nothing you can do. To know that all you had to do was join me and she wouldn't be suffering now.

Luke shuddered thinking about it. He couldn't afford to think about it. He had a camp to take care of. Olympus knew, Tantalus wasn't going to do it, and since he was one of the oldest and most respected kids at camp Luke had taken over all Chiron's old responsibilities, which Tantalus couldn't be bothered with. Luke now spent most of his time away from Thalia's tree, mediating arguments between campers, looking out for camper's safety and, of course, organizing border patrols. Whenever he needed, he knew exactly who to talk to about getting all the campers together for a camp meeting, and most everyone at camp was willing enough to listen to him so he didn't have too much too worry about, but still, it was a lot. And the very few breaks Luke did get were spent reading with Annabeth, combing over every single piece of information they could find that might heal Thalia.

Luke sighed, leaning back against Thalia's tree. He would have been content to just sit under Thalia's tree all day, if Annabeth hadn't marched up the hill and disturbed him. She was the only one who ever bothered him here. He had a sneaking suspicion that the others were all too scared to, or at least they felt too awkward to do it themselves, so they made Annabeth do it for them. After all, there wasn't a person at camp who didn't know that he and Thalia had been best friends, and family. He supposed that if he were in their shoes he'd feel a bit awkward approaching him here as well, but he was grateful enough for it, It kept the others from disturbing him. Well, all except Annabeth.

When she reached the top of the hill, she studied him, smiled, and looked at her feet rubbing the back of her neck, "I came to see if you were going to be heading to the race today, because it's about to start like any second now. The Apollo kids are about to take over, so Will and Michael should be up in a bit"

"The Race?" Luke sighed, "That's today…?"

Annabeth nodded and Luke cursed in ancient Greek.

That stupid race was day. That dumb chariot thing Tantalus had them doing instead of looking for a solution to their problem with Thalia's tree. He absolutely loathed the idea although it helped to relieve some of the tension hanging over everyone's head.

"I'm not going," Luke murmured.

"Really?" Annabeth asked, knitting her eyebrows, " But Connor and Travis were looking for you earlier. They said you'd promised to help them set up for the race and see them off…"

Luke sat up. "Fffff-..! Ugh! I totally forgot, I told those two I'd get there early to help them make some last minute changes to the Chariot."

Annabeth looked at him and frowned folding her arms, "Luke seriously? Just like how you forgot to help them get the chariot out of the woods where you left it a few weeks ago? Or how you forgot that you promised to help them paint the thing the other day. Or how you forgot to show Julia how to canoe just last Saturday, or how you forgot Cecil's-"

"Okay Okay!" Luke rubbed the back of his neck, "I get it, I've been busy. With Thalia and everything going on, I've been busy… They're just my cabin mates, they understand. I have more important things to be doing than worrying about some dumb race."

"Yeah, I know Luke, I know," Annabeth frowned, "But still, they might not see it that way… You have been blowing them off a lot lately… They might start thinking..."

"Might start thinking what?" Luke raised an eyebrow, confused.

Annabeth looked like she wanted to say more, but she simply shook her head.

Honestly Luke had wanted nothing to do with the race, but he'd promised his cabin mates he'd be there… When the thing had been announced Connor and Travis Stoll, had been picked to be the drivers for the Hermes cabin, since they were the most excited about the event and would no doubt wreak the most havoc. When the festivities died down that night had Luke had tried to sneak away from his cabin mates and head up to half blood hill toned down and Luke was making his way towards Half-blood hill, the two had caught up to him asking if he'd help them with their Chariot and getting it prepared for the race. Luke had reluctantly agreed but only because he was pretty sure that the two had noticed how upset he'd been over Thalia's tree being poison and thought maybe they could get his mind off things this. Luke really hadn't been interested, but he didn't want to make Connor and Travis feel bad so he'd agreed.

"Well if you're going to catch your brothers before the race starts, you'd better get going," Annabeth said.

Luke made a face. He didn't mean to be rude or anything, but he'd always kind of hated it whenever anyone referred to any of his cabin mates as his siblings. People did it all the time, and while he understood why, it didn't really feel right to him.

He knew it was true. They were technically siblings on their dad's side, but that didn't make them siblings. It wasn't the same feeling he got when he was around Annabeth or Raven, and it wasn't the same as the feelings he'd had for Thalia. Those were the people he considered his siblings. He'd known Thalia for years, and they'd had each other's backs through thick and thin. He trusted her with his life. And with Annabeth, well, he'd been looking out for her since she was seven. He worried about her, and he knew he'd always be there for her. Then there was Raven, who had seen him through one of the roughest parts of his life he could remember. When nobody else had understood what he was feeling, Raven had come along and understood him. Those were the kinds of things that made you siblings.

It wasn't that the other Hermes kids weren't trying, though. They wanted to hang out with Luke and get closer to him. He knew that. His cabin mates were always asking him to hang out or asking him to help out with projects they were working on, especially the Stolls brothers. They were always asking him to help them pull off their pranks around camp or work with them on things like chariots. And Luke thought it was… Nice? He really did. He just couldn't bring himself to get as excited to hang out with them as they were to hang out with him. And, to be honest, Luke was pretty to just let things stay as they were: Just him and Annabeth and Raven.

Although, It would be pretty nice to have Thalia back...

"Right," Luke, finally replied, "Coming."

Luke stood and starting to unbuckle his armor, making his way down the hill and discarding his bronze breastplate and helmet in the Hermes cabin before making his way to the Arena with Annabeth.

Luke cracked his neck as he made his way to the Arena, looking up at the trees. He hadn't noticed before, but there were millions of fat gray-and-white pigeons dotting the trees. It was slightly odd, he admitted, but he didn't pay it much mind.

"I got an Iris message from Raven yesterday," Annabeth said, as they made their way over to the Arena, which had been built in a grassy field between the archery range and the woods. Luke glanced down at Annabeth.

"Yeah," Luke nodded, "Me too, did she rant to you about some guy, too?"

"No," Annabeth looked up and raised an eyebrow, "What guy?"

Luke shrugged, "I don't know, she wouldn't tell me. Something about how it would ruin the future. You know how it is with her… Whoever he was must have been a real piece of work to get her that mad, though."

"Sounds like it," Annabeth agreed, smiling a little.

"What did she say to you?" Luke asked.

"Nothing much," Annabeth paused a moment, "She asked how you were doing."

Luke looked at the ground when the question came up. He knew what was coming and he already hated it. He knew Annabeth wanted an answer from him but, to be honest, he didn't know the answer himself.

"Luke..?" Annabeth asked quietly, "How are you doing?"

Luke was silent for a long time, trying collect his thoughts. Lately, he hated that question more than anything. It seemed impossible for him to put into words exactly what he was feeling. He felt… Sad, mostly, and helpless too. There was no part of him that could say watching Thalia suffer wasn't painful. It made him feel like a failure. But at the same time there was also a sense of duty too. Duty to the camp. Thalia had been protecting the camp for so long, he almost felt as if it was his turn to take over the responsibility while she was sick.

In the end, Luke would say he felt pretty mixed up. Confused.

"I don't know Annie," Luke murmured, finally, "Ask me again when things are back to normal..."

"According to Raven that should be soon..." Annabeth offered, hopefully.

"Not soon enough," Luke sighed.

Annabeth frowned, looking down miserably.

Luke sighed, and wrapped an arm around Annabeth's shoulders, giving her a small squeeze, "Hey, I didn't mean things wouldn't go back to normal, okay? We're going to find a way to help Thalia, I promise. Don't worry about it..."

Annabeth smiled a little, although she didn't seem to believe him.

Luke didn't blame her. He didn't either.

Annabeth lead the way onto the Arena track with Luke following her, his hands shoved into his pockets. He had to admit, the Hephaestus kids had done a pretty good job with the place. They'd tamed the mechanical bull the camp had fought a few weeks ago and had them plow a suitable race track for them to use. There were rows of stone steps for the spectators like Tantalus, the satyrs, a few dryads, and all of the campers who weren't participating. Mr. D didn't show. He never got up before ten o'clock.

"So," Luke turned to Annabeth, "Where's the Athena Chariot, I wanna see it."

Annabeth blinked for a moment before beaming excitedly and turning slightly red, "Yeah! Of course, it's over here, come on. Colin Berto and I worked really hard on it. He's gonna be my fighter in the race today."

"Wait, what?" Luke stopped her, "You're the driver?"

"Uh, Yeah," Annabeth blink, confused.

"Woah woah woah!" Luke shook his head, "You can't be the driver! Annabeth, do you know how dangerous these races are? you could get hurt! I didn't say you could do this! You didn't even ask me!"

Luke folded his arms across his chest and frowned down at Annabeth, who took a second to process what he'd just said before narrowing her eyes at Luke and shaking her head, "Luke, you do realize I've been to Hades and back, right? I'll be fine! And I didn't ask you because you're not in change of me. I can take care of myself."

"Uh huh," Luke rolled his eyes, "That's what you think, Miss smartie-pants, but news flash: It was my job to take care of you at seven, It's my job to take care of you now. And it will still be my job on the day that you die."

"Whatever, I'm racing today, and I'd like to see you stop me. I promised to beat percy's sorry butt up and down this track today, and that's exactly what I intend to do," She grinned evilly, and there was no doubt in Luke's mind that she had a brilliant plan to do just that, "Besides, I'm onto you -For-My-Well-Being. You're just scared that I'm going to beat the Hermes's Chariot, aren't you?"

Luke rolled his eyes and raised his hands in mock defeat, "Oh no, you got me, that was totally what I was thinking," Luke reached over and ruffled Annabeth's blonde curls, "Just be careful okay, genius? Anyway let's see that chariot, huh?"

No sooner had Luke spoken than he heard Tantalus bellow over the crowd.

"Right!" Tantalus announced as the teams began to assemble. Luke watched, unimpressed, as a naiad had brought him a big platter of pastries, and as Tantalus spoke, chased a chocolate eclair across the judge's table. "You all know the rules. A quarter-mile track. Twice around to win. Two horses per chariot. Each team will consist of a driver and a fighter. Weapons are allowed. Dirty tricks are expected. But try not to kill anybody!" Tantalus smiled at the campers in a way that made Luke wanna walk up there and smack him upside the head, but he refrained, "Any killing will result in harsh punishment. No s'mores at the campfire for a week! Now ready your chariots!"

Beckendorf passed Luke and Annabeth as he led the Hephaestus team's Chariot onto the track. Their chariot was expertly crafted, as expected from the Hephaestus cabin. It was made of bronze and iron and even the horses, which were magical automatons like the Colchis bulls, and if Luke knew anything about Beckendorf, and he was pretty sure he did, their chariot no shortage of mechanical traps and weaponry.

Clarisse was the next to pass with her brother, Sherman Yang, pushing a blood red chariot pulled by two grisly horse skeletons. Luke gave the daughter of Ares a slight wave as she passed, which she quickly returned. Luke had never thought that he and Clarisse would ever become friends but over the last few months Clarisse had helped him around camp more than any other camper he could think of. If anything else, she was a good comrade.

Clarisse climbed aboard her chariot, which lay littered with so many weapons it made Luke want to forbid Annabeth from racing. Clarisse had with her a batch of javelins, a spiked balls, a couple caltrops, and a bunch of other nasty toys. And that was just the stuff Luke could see.

Next, the Apollo chariot rolled over by Lee Fletcher who was talking quietly with Kayla Knowles, who had a huge grin on her face, that was making Luke question whether or not we should be letting this twelve year old drive… Her long ginger hair was pulled back into a puffy ponytail and she was itching to get on their trim and graceful-looking golden chariot, as Lee frantically tried to tell her to go slow today because they 'didn't want a repeat of what happened last time'

Kayla waved him off and blew a strand of red hair out of her face as she patted one of their beautiful palomino horses, "Don't worry Lee! I'll be careful this time, I promise! Or if you still don't trust me, I could be the fighter." Kayla eyed Lee's bow and quiver as if they were made out of gold.

Lee laughed and slung it over his shoulder and smirked, "Please, Kayla," He snorted, "This is gonna be an easy win as it is, we don't want it to be that easy."

Luke raised his eyebrow, wondering just how good a shot Kayla really was.

Colin Berto brought over his and Annabeth's chariot a second later, which Luke had to admit, looked pretty cool. It was a simple wooden chariot, with intricate designs carved into the wood, but like everything the Athena cabin worked on, it was also practical. They'd built the thing to be able to withstand anything their opponents threw at them, while still being lightweight and fast.

Percy pulled his Chariot up to the starting line, right next to Annabeth and Colin's. Percy's new Cyclops brother, Tyson, followed behind in awe as he stared at the small crowd of spectators in front of them. Luke wasn't really sure if the guy was excited or nervous but either way he looked as though he'd just been faced with a brick wall.

Connor and Travis were the last ones to roll their chariot over. Luke had to admit, his cabin's chariot wasn't the prettiest, it was a old-looking forest green chariot that looked as though it hadn't been used in a few years. Mostly because it hadn't. Back when the Hermes cabin had illegal chariot races out in the woods, it had been Luke's favorite. They'd had to stop because they'd almost gotten caught. One of the chariots was broken but the other had been hidden in the woods behind Zeus's fist, until now.

Seeing the two boys reminded Luke what he was doing there in the first place, but seeing the miffed looks on their faces made him reluctant to walk over. Their frowns only furthered when they noticed him standing with Annabeth and Percy by the Athena chariot. Luke turned away from the two, hoping to prolong his conversation with Annabeth until the race started. Whatever the Stolls' problem was, Luke didn't want to know.

Fortunately, Luke got what he wanted because as soon as he heard what Percy was saying, all thoughts of his cabin mates flew out of his mind.

Percy was talking in his usual hyperactive, fast-paced voice, saying something about a dream he had. As soon as he mentioned Grover, all Luke's attention had been on him. He talked frantically about how his satyr friend had come to him in a dream to tell him he was stuck on Polyphemus's island and how he might have fought something that could save the camp.

However, Percy started to lose him as soon as he mentioned what Grover had told him. The excitement in Luke's chest seemed to drop and he frowned angrily at Percy. Luke knew well enough to know the difference between good news, and news that was too good. Annabeth obviously wasn't very convinced either because she quickly gave Percy a suspicious look and a shake of the head.

"You're trying to distract me," she decided and Luke shot Percy a glare. Not only was using a lie to distract Annabeth, which was a cheap move, but it was a pretty awful lie too. Percy knew well enough that Thalia meant a lot to him and Annabeth and how devastating the thought of losing her was. Giving them hope of things getting better, just to tear it away was terrible.

"What? No I'm not!" Percy protested.

"Oh, right! Like Grover would just happen to stumble across the one thing that could save the camp."

"Don't go around spreading false hope as some cheap tactic to win some stupid race," Luke hissed, folding his arm across his chest, his face turning dark. He didn't like being given hope then finding out it all be a lie.

Percy's eyes widened, disbelievingly, "What do you mean? I'm telling the truth!"

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Go back to your chariot, Percy."

Percy threw his hands up in the air, "I'm not making this up! He's in trouble, guys!"

Luke narrowed his eyes at Percy, trying to decided whether or not he really believed Percy's story. Annabeth seemed hesitated, trying to decided the same thing. Luke really wasn't sure how he felt about Percy. He was never quite sure whether he trusted the boy or not. Everyone else seemed to like him and trust him, even Raven, who seemed to know everything, but Luke always got this feeling that he shouldn't trust Percy.

That he shouldn't like Percy.

Maybe that was because he was supposed to be a traitor. Maybe that was because he was supposed to join Kronos and he and Percy were meant to be enemies. They were supposed to battle and fight with each other until he was eventually forced to kill himself. Or maybe it was just because he'd broken one of his little sister's heart last summer and he was always hanging around his other one. Whatever it was, Luke still felt… iffy, about the son of Poseidon.

Finally Annabeth spoke up once more, crinkling her nose and blowing a strand of blond hair our of her face, "Percy, an empathy link is so hard to do. I mean, it's more likely you really were dreaming."

"The Oracle," Percy said. "We could consult the Oracle."

Luke frowned at the mention of the the oracle. On his quest to Last summer, to steal a Golden Apple at the Garden of Hesperides, Luke had had to visit the oracle himself and get his own prophecy. He knew the whole thing by heart but he forced himself not to think of it. He refused to tell anyone what it was, and he tried not to think it if he didn't have to. All he knew is the damn thing made him think that his stupid quest would lead to his glory, when all it had lead to was months of misery and an ugly scar across his face. He know Percy must be at least a little bit serious if he was actually suggesting going back there.

Before either Luke or Annabeth could answer give Percy any sort of answer, Tantalus lifted the conch horn and gave a long honk that made half the camper's cover their ears. Luke crinkled his nose and rubbed his ears in pain.

"Charioteers!" Tantalus called. "To your mark!"

"We'll talk later," Annabeth told Percy, before giving him a small smirk, "after I win."

Luke turned to Annabeth and gave her a small pat on the shoulder, "Okay, I'll see you later, have fun," He said, smiling and giving her a quick peck on the cheek, "and be careful."

Annabeth turned scarlet red as Luke turned away and started heading to the stands where the rest of the Hermes cabin was sitting. He had meant to stop and see Connor and Travis off, but it was already too late, so he simply took his place in the stands.

Luke had to admit, out of all the cabins at camp, the Hermes cabin was the most hodge-podge cabin at camp. Everyone looked different. Even the Hermes kids looked different except for their elvish features, unlike in the Athena cabin, where most of the kids had blond curly hair like Annabeth's or the Hephaestus cabin where all the the kids were burly and muscular looking. But in the Hermes cabin you would never be able to guess who were siblings and who weren't. Luke had sandy blond hair and blue eyes, while the Stolls brothers had curly brown hair and dark brown eyes, Meanwhile one of Hermes younger daughters, Alice Miyazawa, had silky black hair and black almond shaped eyes, and another, Julia Feingold, had a dark complexion with frizzy brown hair and dark brown eyes.

And those were just the claimed Hermes kids. The undecided kids made the cabin even more diverse. There was Butch and Blaise, who were brother and sister. Butch was older. He was a tall muscular boy with dirty blonde hair and dark eyes, while Blaise, who was only five, was short and skinny with long golden blond curls and big brown eyes. Then there was Clovis, a taller Latino boy, who spent most of his time sleeping the day away and missing all his daily activities.

Paolo Montes was a younger Brazilian kid who had showed up earlier that summer. He didn't speak a lick of English and mostly kept to himself, but Luke was pretty sure that's what he liked best about him. Luke couldn't say the same for Chiara Benvenuti or Damian White, the pretty Italian girl and dark haired boy, who were always bickering with each other.

Then there were the twins, Laurel and Holly Victor, who both had dark skin, twin braids and a fair amount of muscles from all the competing they were always doing with each other. Roxie Palakiko, another unclaimed camper, was a tiny Hawaiian girl with dark brown skin and long curly hair about the same color. She was pretty enough but she always looked so angry Luke doubted he'd get much conversation out of her if he tried.

Jessie Stevens had skinny frame, dark clothes, too many piercings and a mohawk, which they had dyed blue. Luke had know the kid for awhile but he still wasn't sure weather they were a boy or a girl. He'd asked once but they'd just given him a long look before replying "None of your goddamn business, Castellan."

He hadn't asked since.

Madison Campbell and Lou Ellen were best friends but they looked like complete opposites. Lou Ellen was the shorter of the two girls with shoulder length black hair with green eyes that sparkled with mischief, which Madison Campbell, who was an inch taller, had long blonde hair and innocent looking black eyes.

Luke was pulled out of thought when he looked around at the kids in his cabin, and noticed, suddenly, that their eyes weren't turned towards the track like he'd thought they were. He noticed with confusion, that a lot of them were looking at him. And, well, they weren't exactly flashing him smiles…

Some of the younger kids like, Blaise, Cecil, Lou and Madison were talking and going about their business, but Alice, and Julia were both glaring at him, and there was no doubt in him mind that Butch was giving him a nasty look, and he was definitely getting the stink eye from Jessie.

Luke furrowed his brow confused. He had no idea what he'd done to make his cabin mates made at him, and last time he checked he'd been on pretty good terms with most of them. Still, there was a definite hostile feeling in the air around him, and there was no denying that he'd done something to piss them off.

Suddenly the glares broke and the Hermes cabin started conversing in whispers and sighing, rolling their eyes. Luke watched as Jessie, Alice and Julia each passed Roxie ten bucked, which, surprisingly, didn't seem to help her soar mood even a little bit. But yet again, nothing ever did.

Luke raised an eyebrow.

"They made a bet," A girl's voice spoke up behind him, "weather you would actually show up to see your bros off or not."

Luke jumped and turned around.

Calliope Sawyer, another one of the Hermes Cabin's undecided campers, had slipped into the seat right next to him with a frown on her face, and narrow eyes pointed at him. Her dark black dreadlocks were pulled back into a ponytail and her big clunky jewelry jingled musically around her neck and wrists.

"How do you always do that?" Luke asked, amazing, "It's like I never see you coming..."

"That's cause you only see what I want you to see," Calliope grinned, playfully, "Dude, I'm like a freakin ninja."

"Uh huh," Luke rolled his eyes.

"Seriously though, you sure took your dear sweet time getting over here," Calliope noted, "But hey, don't feel too bad, your little admirers should be used to getting bailed on by now. Oh the pain of being a young boy and worrying if daddy dearest will shows up to your very first tee-ball game or not."

Luke furrowed his brow confused. Calliope never made much sense to him, but today she was extra confusing, "What do you mean? I just woke up late, that's all, and besides, it's not a big deal. It's just some dumb race, they'll get over it, it's fine."

"You got up late?" Calliope raised an eyebrow, "But you were still here early enough to have a nice chat with Jackson and Chase?"

"That was important," Luke argued, "It was about Thalia!"

"Of course it was," Calliope huffed, "I'm just saying this race might not've meant shit to you-"

"Language" Luke warned.

"English," Calliope replied, "But Dude, seriously, to them-" She jerked a finger towards Connor and Travis, "-it was a chance to show their amazing big brother that they can be cool too. Come on, bro, they look up to you, and if you can't see that you're freakin' blind."

Luke looked at her for a moment unsure how to respond. He knew Connor and Travis looked up to him. He just wasn't sure he wanted them to… "I know they do. It's just, I'm not really looking to be anyone's role model right now. I have enough on my plate worrying about Annabeth and Thalia."

"Believe me we get it," Calliope huffed, "Thalia this. Thalia that. We get it. You were family, you were close, you cared about her. We get it. But news flash: You siblings aren't stupid. They've noticed how distant you've been and they just wanna hang with their cool big brother and I don't think that would be too much to ask considering all you do all day is mope around over some tree, like a chump."

"I'm not a chump," Luke glowered.

"I'm just saying," Calliope hummed, "A little less sitting on your butt doing nothing and a little more getting thing back to normal would be nice. I mean Raven said things would work out, so they're obviously going to. That girl is even more of a freakin' ninja than I am. Kinda creepy how she just knows shit, ya know?"

"Language," Luke scolded. Calliope rolled her eyes.

"Just a word of advice," Calliope sighed, "Being there for your old family is great Luke, but letting new people into your family can be a good thing too. Try not to make them feel as though you're prioritizing a tree over them."

Luke was quiet for a moment, "I just… I don't know. I'll try..."

But if he was being honest, he was lying. The truth was, he didn't feel like he could try. Not right now. Maybe when everything was back to normal he would try opening up to the others but for now all he could afford to worry about were the sisters he already had.

"Good, now with that business out of the way," The darker girl grabbed a notebook and a tin box from behind her and opened it up, "Me and your sister are placing bets on how far Twiddle Dee and Twiddle Dumb are gonna get before they wipe out. You in, brah?"

Luke stared at her disapprovingly.

"Of course I'm in, I'm betting fifteen seconds, tops"

Luke was starting to get pretty fed up with all these pigeons that kept showing up. The race was about to start and they were still gathering in the woods, screeching so loud that he couldn't even hear Tantalus as he bellowed over the noise. Luke wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing, though…

"Charioteers!" Tantalus was shouting. "Attend your mark!"

There was a small pause and the crowd leaned forward in anticipation. Finally, Tantalus waved his hand and the starting signal dropped. Immediately the chariots roared to life and the sound of hooves against dirt mixed with the cheers of the crowd in the stands.

Almost immediately there was a loud crack as Luke watched the Stoll brothers ram into the Apollo chariot which made Lee and Kayla both scream in wide eyed shock as their Chariot flipped over. Luckily enough the two campers had been thrown free and seemed to be okay but their panicked horses dragged the golden chariot diagonally across the track.

Luke could hear Travis and Connor Stoll laughing from the stands and throwing taunts, as he looked down at Calliope's stop watch. Still ten seconds in…

When Luke looked up again his eyes widened slightly and he winced as the Apollo horses crashed into the Hermes chariot, which flipped over as well, leaving only a pile of broken wood and four rearing horses in the dust. Calliope stopped her watch.

"Fourteen seconds, damn," She whistled, passing Luke a twenty. He smirked.

Luke heard another round of nasty screeching from the trees above them and turned to glare up at the pigeons in the trees above them. For the first time Luke noticed how odd these birds looked. Their beaks and eyes looked shiny and they didn't sound right…

"Calliope," Luke nudged the girl, "Do those birds look weird to you?"

Calliope looked up and frowned, "Maybe… I don't know… They look… "

Luke tried to place his finger on it, "They look like… You don't think they could be… "

Suddenly with a loud screeching the pigeons in the trees arose like a tornado and headed towards the track. Luke looked at Calliope wide eyed and shouted, "Stymphalian birds!"

The birds crashed down on the stands like a tidal wave, screeching loudly and slashing at any bit of exposed flesh they could find. It was all Luke could do to shout over the crowd, trying to get the older kids to take younger kids to the cabins where it would hopefully be safe, but it wasn't easy to do with birds attacking him and peaking mercilessly at his legs and arms. He slashed at them with his celestial bronze sword but it didn't do much. There were too many of them…

Luke cursed himself. He should have seen it before. These weren't normal pigeons at all. They had beady, evil-looking eyes and razor sharp beaks made of bronze. He gave a frustrated hiss as one particularly persistent bird took a stab at his ear with it's beak.

Unable to hold back his frustrated anger, Luke turned like lightning and grabbed the bird out of air by it's leg, running it through and watching it turn to dust. Great, he thought bitterly, as he pressed a hand it his ear, only to see it was bleeding, because that's just what my face needs. Another scar...

In the distance he could see Annabeth and Percy riding back towards the starting line in an effort to help. He thought he saw Annabeth shouting something but it was impossible to hear. If this all kept up, the stupid birds would peak everyone down to the bone…!

He could hear the Athena campers were calling for shields and the archers from Apollo's cabin brought out their bows and arrows, ready to slay the menace, but with so many campers mixed in with the birds, it wasn't safe to shoot. They had to do something… Luke tried to think… Hercules… Hercules used…? Hell if he knew! Luke cursed. It wasn't as if the sound of these dumb birds were doing him any favors. He could hardly think they were so loud.

Loud…

Luke gasped, That was it! Hercules used noise to drive the birds away.

Luke fought his way through the crowd, slashing birds along the way and squeezing his way through the crowd over to Tantalus's spot in the stands, He grabbed Tantalus's conch horn off the seat where he'd left it and sucked in a huge breath before blowing it as hard as he could.

There was a loud screech and the all the pigeons nearby fled and fluttered in the air nearby. It gave Luke enough time to slash about a dozen before they recovered and began charging at him again. Luke blew into the conch horn again and killed about a dozen more, but he couldn't keep it up. The conch horn was loud enough, and he was already getting out of breath… They needed something more…

Luke, did what he could, taking some of the younger campers, like five year old Blaise, Madison and Lou and urging them to stay close while he fended off the birds, but the stands were in Chaos. Wounded campers ran in every direction. Birds shedding at campers clothes and pulling out their hair. Meanwhile Tantalus chased breakfast pastries around the stands, every once in awhile yelling, "Everything's under control! Not to worry."

Luke cursed at the man in ancient greek but he was pretty sure the fool couldn't hear him.

Luke was just about ready to give up when, to Luke's surprise, he heard something, making him cover his ears as the air was filled with the obnoxious sound of violins and a wailing sound that was he guessed was supposed to be Italian.

To his left he heard Chiara Benvenuti yell, "Oh miei dèi! What is that? È terribile"

Luke supposed even the Italian thought this kind of music was terrible… But at least it had the desired effect because the pigeons went nuts. They started flying in circles, running into each other like they wanted to bash their own brains out. To everyone's relief they abandoned the track altogether and flew skyward in a huge dark wave.

"Now!" shouted Annabeth. "Archers!"

Luke looked over to see Annabeth and Percy with Chiron's old boombox, which was blasting the music that was making the birds go crazy. He was surprised at how impressed he was. He already knew they were a brilliant team, and no doubt the plan had been Annabeth's and he knew how clever she was, but still, he was surprised at how they'd come up with a solution so fast.

With clear targets, Apollo's archers had flawless aim. Most of them could nock five or six arrows at once. Within minutes, the ground was littered with dead bronze-beaked pigeons, and the survivors were a distant trail of smoke on the horizon.

Luke made his way down the stands and over to Annabeth and Percy, who were still breathing pretty heavily. Not that he was doing any better, still recovering from fending the birds of with Tantalus's conch horn.

Annabeth looked up concerned, "Luke are you okay? You're bleeding?"

The younger girl looked at his bleeding ear, which had a pretty good chunk taken out of it, but besides that it was fine, "Yeah, I'm fine. Nothing one of the Apollo kids can't fix. What about you guys are you alright?"

"I'm fine. You, Percy?" Annabeth looked back at the black haired boy who lay collapsed on the ground behind her. He gave her a weak thumbs up in response, "I just don't understand how I didn't see it earlier! I knew they weren't normal pigeons, how could I not piece it together?"

Luke suddenly froze, realizing something he should have earlier.

"Gods!" Luke groaned, placing his head in his hands in frustration, "This isn't your fault Annabeth, it's mine! I was on guard duty last night, they must have gotten in while I was asleep! How could I be so stupid!?"

"Luke it wasn't your fault, you couldn't have known," Annabeth tried to console him, " even if you were awake, there were so many of them, you couldn't have kept them all out, it's nobody's fault."

Luke knew Annabeth was probably right but it didn't make him feel any better. Thalia was sick. She couldn't protect them anymore. He felt like it was his responsibility to take over for her until she got better, but even though he was trying his best it still wasn't enough. He still wasn't doing enough for her… He should be doing more to help her. To cure her. He should be able to go something as simple as guard the camp while they figured out a way to cure her, but he couldn't even do that..!

He turned away from Annabeth, angrily. He hated that Thalia was dying… He hated that someone was twisted enough to do something like that to her. She had given her life for him and Annabeth. She spent everyday of her existence protecting demigods and making Camp Half-Blood a safe haven and someone was actually sick enough to poison her?

"Oh it's somebody's fault," Luke growled, "and his name is Malcolm Pace!"

"Luke..." Annabeth frowned, "Malcolm… It's not his fault. He's been brainwashed by Kronos! He doesn't know what he's doing."

Luke crinkled his nose in disgust. He knew better than anyone that was no excuse. He had been messaged by Kronos for years. The titan lord had sent him nightmares and made him promises and enticed him to join his army through his dreams for years, and he's said no. He'd resisted, because he realized how wrong it would have been. Malcolm had made the wrong choice, but it was his choice none the less. He joined Kronos all on his own. No one made him do that.

"He's a monster, Annabeth," Luke snapped at her, "Look what he did to Thalia! She gave her life for us, and he did this to her!"

"Luke please," Annabeth said quieter, "He's my brother..."

"Brother…?" Luke looked at her, disbelievingly. How could she defend him just because they had the same mother? Wasn't he Annabeth's brother? He was the one who'd looked out for her. When did Malcolm become her brother? He simply didn't get how she could so easily think of this boy as family and defend him. How she was willing to stand up for him even though she'd known Luke and Thalia for so much longer? Wasn't he her brother first?

Luke shook his head, and folded his arms across his chest, "Malcolm's not your family Annabeth. Family doesn't do this to one another. He doesn't actually care about you. He doesn't care about any of us! Malcolm isn't any of our family! Look at what he did! He's sick and evil and a traitor."

Luke was suddenly very aware of how wait it had gotten.

It was with confusion and frustration that he realized he was once again being stared at. However, this time, the whole camp was staring in his direction. Most of the campers stood there looking confused and awkward, but the Hermes cabin was shaking their head in disappointment at his outburst while the Athena kids glared daggers at him from across the track.

Luke threw his hands in the hair in frustration, "Oh so I'm the bad guy now!?"

More silence, as the other campers averted their eyes and went back to treating the injured and picking up the damage caused by the bird attack. Luke scowled, turning back to Annabeth, who was busy staring at her sneakers and fiddling with the beads on her camp necklace. Luke sighed, "Look, Annabeth- I'm just- I'm didn't… Ugh. I'm just going to go check on Thalia. Will should be down here helping to treat the injured."

Annabeth looked up at Luke and looked like she wanted to say something more, but a moment later Tantalus was speaking over them all, and all focus was taken off Luke and put on the camp's sorry excuse for an activities director as he shouted,"Bravo! We have our first winner!"

Luke shook his head in disbelief. He didn't even wanna hear what was coming next. With how on edge he was feeling at the moment, Luke was pretty sure the next words out of Tantalus's mouth would send him over the edge, and he didn't even want to think about what the punishment was for punching your activities director in the face. Instead, he turned on his heels and started walking away from the arena, and back up towards Thalia's hill.

Once Will and Michael had left and Luke and Thalia were once again alone, Luke sank down against the trunk and pulled his knees up against his chest. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest and he suddenly felt exhausted. Not just from the attack or from yelling at Annabeth, but just from being away from this place. Being away from Thalia was exhausting in and of itself. This was the only place left at camp that didn't feel like it was dying, which he supposed was just a little bit ironic. It was much actually much more accurate to say that this was the only place left at camp that didn't make him feel like he was dying.

Gods, he hoped Raven was right about this all happening for the better. Luke didn't wanna know how much worse it could get.


	34. Luke 34

Luke

By the time lunch was over Luke wasn't feeling any better about yelling at Annabeth. Thalia's tree wasn't making him feel any better either. It was as if she was radiating disappointment. He knew what she would say if she were there, he could just hear her now: _Seriously Luke? What were you thinking? Annabeth's just a kid, I know you wanna take care of her, but you can't just get mad at her. Who exactly do you think your helping?_

Luke had to admit, she was right… Annabeth was just a kid, she didn't know any better. She was so young, that of course she would still be naive enough to trust Malcolm. Really, he shouldn't have been so surprised that she had put her faith in him because they were both children of Athena. She simply didn't understand the world the way he did. That had to be it...

Luke sighed stood up, patting the bark of Thalia's pine. He hated it how she was always right. She'd always been like that… Of course, Luke knew Thalia wasn't actually alive. Or not in the way he was used to. He'd seen her die. He'd watched her get surrounded by hell hounds and the furies. No one knew what had happened to Thalia better than Luke had, but still, sometimes, when he was alone with Thalia's tree and it was really quiet, he felt somewhat connected to her… Like he could understand her and know what she would be thinking.

Unfortunately, that also meant he had to go apologize to Annabeth.

After he made his back down to camp, Luke stopped for a moment to talk to Jessie Stevens, who gave him a long once over before telling him that Annabeth and Percy had been sentenced to cleaning duty with the Harpies for causing the pigeon attack with their bad driving, or so said Tantalus.

"Sounds like a load of BS if you ask me," Jessie said, shrugging, "But hey no one asked my opinion. If they did, I'd tell em that Tantalus should be kissing those two's butts right now. If it weren't for them those birds would have picked him apart before he even got to taste his first pastry. Anyway, you can find her in the underground kitchen."

"Okay," Luke sighed, "Thanks Jessie."

"No prob, dude" Jessie gave Luke a two fingered salute before wandering off again.

Luke made his way down to the kitchen rubbing the back of his neck, trying to figure out what he would say to Annabeth when he saw her. When he finally made his way to the bottom of the stairs, he decided it was best to just wing it. He was just to open up the door and start what was bond to be a pretty awkward conversation for him when he heard voices. Of course, he expected to hear voices, but it was what the voices were saying that stopped him.

He opened the door just a crack so he could see Annabeth, Percy and Tyson scrubbing pots and platters with the cleaning harpies. The bright glow of the lava the harpies used to wash dishes with radiated heat and made the room glow orange and yellow.

"If Grover's really found it," Annabeth murmured, turning to lean against the sink, "and if we could retrieve it... This could be the turn around Raven predicted."

"What turn around?" Percy asked, "When did you talk to Raven? What did she say?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes, "Nothing about you, seaweed brain."

Luke raised an eyebrow as Percy looked down, looking rather disappointed in his opinion. He wondered what that was about. He supposed it was because Raven was mad at him. He didn't think Percy had talked to her in a few days. He almost felt bad for the kid. As much as he hated to think about it he still remembered their, er… _cringe-worthy _conversation.

A few days ago Percy and Luke had had their usual one-on-one sword fighting lessons, and Luke had just beaten Percy's butt for the thirtieth time in a row when he finally decided to bug the kid about what was distracting him.

"Okay, I know what my problem is kid, what's your's?" Luke had said, shaking his head "If anything I should be the distracted one. You should have at least gotten one lucky shot in by now, what's up?"

Percy had picked himself up off the ground, and frowned down at the ground, "Where's Raven? She should be here… She's always here when things go wrong. If she were here, thing would be back to normal by now… Where is she anyway?"

"Raven?" Luke raised an eyebrow, "Last time she check in with me she was looking for her sister still... But if she didn't think we could handle this on our own, I guarantee you, she'd be here right now."

Percy huffed, obviously not buying that, "This would just be so much easier if she would just tell me what I needed to do..."

Luke shrugged, "Then call her."

He'd lend Percy a drachma and everything, but five seconds into the conversation Luke was wishing he hadn't. He knew Percy didn't know about Raven's crush on him, so it wasn't really his fault, but if he had, he would have been cringing right along with Luke through their entire conversation. As soon as the words 'I need you' left Percy's lips, Luke knew the conversation was headed south.

"Anyway," Percy said, changing the topic, "You act like this … whatever-it-is Grover's found is the only thing in the world that could save the camp. What is it?"

"I'll give you a hint. What do you get when you skin a ram?"

"Messy?"

Annabeth sighed, "A fleece, Percy, the coat of a ram is called a fleece. And if that ram happens to have golden wool-"

"The Golden Fleece. Are you serious?"

As soon as the words escaped Percy's lips, Luke's eyes got wide with excitement and hopefulness. If Annabeth and Percy were right, the Golden Fleece could definitely save Thalia. In fact, it could be the only thing that could Thalia. And if Grover has it… Annabeth was probably right. This was probably what Raven meant when she said these things would work out for the better.

Annabeth grabbed another plate from the stack next to her and scrapped a pile death-bird bones into the lava, "Percy, you remember the Gray Sisters, right? They said they knew the location of the thing you seek. And they mentioned Jason. Three thousand years ago, the Gray Sisters were the ones to tell Jason how to find the Golden Fleece. You do know the story of Jason and the Argonauts, right?"

"Yeah," Percy nodded, "That old movie with the clay skeletons."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Oh my gods, Percy! You are so hopeless."

"What?" Percy demanded.

"Just listen. The real story of the Fleece: there were these two children of Zeus, Cadmus and Europa, okay? They were about to get offered up as human sacrifices, when they prayed to Zeus to save them. So Zeus sent this magical flying ram with golden wool, which picked them up in Greece and carried them all the way to Colchis in Asia Minor. Well, actually it carried Cadmus. Europa fell off and died along the way, but that's not important."

"It was probably important to her..." Percy mumbled

"The point is, when Cadmus got to Colchis, he sacrificed the golden ram to the gods and hung the Fleece in a tree in the middle of the kingdom. The Fleece brought prosperity to the land. Animals stopped getting sick. Plants grew better. Farmers had bumper crops. Plagues never visited. That's why Jason wanted the Fleece. It can revitalize any land where it's placed. It cures sickness, strengthens nature, cleans up pollution-"

"It could cure Thalia's tree."

_Exactly_ thought Luke. This was perfect… Thalia was going to be alright… She was going to be cured…!

Annabeth nodded. "And it would totally strengthen the borders of Camp Half-Blood. But Percy, the Fleece has been missing for centuries. Tons of heroes have searched for it with no luck."

"But Grover found it," Percy said, excited, "He went looking for Pan and he found the Fleece instead because they both radiate nature magic. It makes sense, Annabeth. We can rescue him and save the camp at the same time. It's perfect!"

Percy's last words pretty much summed up the entire plan in Luke's mind. Luke didn't stay to listen to the rest of the two's conversation. He didn't even stay to apologize to Annabeth like he had meant to. He needed to go talk to Tantalus. As much as he hated the guy, he needed to be granted a quest as soon as possible. He wanted more than anything to save Thalia…

No, he _needed_ to be the one to save Thalia. He'd failed once he couldn't fail again.

* * *

Unfortunately Tantalus had other ideas.

"A quest? You're asking for a quest?" Tantalus raised his eyebrow unimpressed, "Listen, Liam..."

"I swear to the gods if you start doing that thing Dionysus does..." Luke growled, unamused, "It's Luke. Luke Castellan, and no, I am not asking for a quest, I am demanding one. To look for the Golden Fleece, it's the only thing that can save Thalia's tree and the camp!"

"Alright then, Luke," Tantalus narrowed his eyes at Luke, but Luke refused to give an inch, "Say we did 'need saving', which we don't, where exactly are you going to go look for this magic fleece of yours? Hundreds of heroes have tried looking for it, what make you think you're so special? Do you know where it is?"

"It's-" Luke hesitated. He didn't know… He had no idea where Grover or the Fleece where, "It's with my friend, Grover Underwood. He's a satyr who went searching for the great god Pan. He found the Fleece instead."

"Really now?" Tantalus looked unconvinced, "And where exactly is your satyr friend? I wasn't aware satyrs were allowed to tell others their whereabouts while searching for the great god Pan. Tell me, how have you been communicating?"

"They're not and we haven't..." Luke growled, trying to think, "But I'm sure I'd find him. I just need a quest! And-… And Raven..! My friend, she knows things, like, the future, she said that, things will work out if we trust our instincts. Well, my instincts say to go looking for the fleece!"

"You're friend knows the future?" Tantalus laughed, "Doubtful. No one knows the future except for that dusty old oracle in the attic and the fates themselves. But hey, I'm all about the benefit of the doubt, so let's say this Raven girl really does know the future. She said to trust our instincts, and my instincts are telling me that you're not getting a quest any time soon, hot shot."

"You're making a mistake!" Luke snapped at him, "You're dooming the entire camp, you good-for-nothing half-baked sorry excuse for a counselor! Do you really want to see this place go up in flames or are you seriously that stupid!?"

"I guess you'll just have to decide that for yourself," Tantalus gave him a nasty grin, "But let me sum this up really carefully for you: You want to go on an impossible quest for a fleece that may or may not still exist to be recovered, and which no one has seen for hundreds of years, to save a camp that doesn't need saving. You have no idea where it is, no idea how to get there, and the only thing you do know is that it is, supposedly, with a friend of yours but you have no way of contacting him, no idea where he is, and no idea if he is even still alive. So, no, I'm sorry to say this, Luke, but you'll be getting a quest the day Hades freezes over."

Luke was seething. His face felt like it was burning red and he swore if he let go of the edge of the desk he was leaning over to talk to Tantalus, he'd punch the guy right in the face. He needed this quest, didn't he get it!?

Tantalus gave him a nasty laugh. There was no doubt in Luke's mind that his anger amused him, "But look on the bright side, kid, you have plenty to talk about at the campfire tonight. I'm sure the other camper would love a good laugh."

Luke growled angrily. He had to force himself not to strangle the activities director as he stormed out of the big house, slamming the door behind him so loudly that he was sure the whole camp could hear him.

* * *

That night at the campfire, Apollo's cabin led the sing-along but Luke didn't feel like singing. Breaking a few heads maybe, but not singing. Eleanor Curtis was the best singer in the Apollo cabin but even her beautiful voice couldn't get much of a tune out of the other campers. Will Solace and Kayla Knowles, the youngest in the Apollo cabin at ten and they were trying to get some of the younger kids to join in as well but most of them were too scared and upset after that afternoon's bird attack. Even Michael Yew and Lee Fletcher were trying and they weren't really that big of musicians. Still nothing helped. Everyone sat around a semicircle of stone steps, Eleanor plucked at her Lyre and Will strummed along on his guitars, although admittedly, the kid was a better medic than he was a guitarist. Still, given that he was a Son of Apollo, it was better than most people could do.

Luke was still fuming from his talk with Tantalus earlier, so he supposed that was why the bonfire next to him was burning dark red and crackling angrily. The fire was enchanted so that the louder you sang, the higher it rose, changing color and heat with the mood of the entire crowd, however, tonight, the fire seemed focused on Luke, seeing as how he was angry enough for the entire camp.

Dionysus left early. After suffering through a few songs, he muttered something about how even pinochle with Chiron had been more exciting than this. Then he gave Tantalus a distasteful look and headed back toward the Big House.

Luke was thinking about doing the same and heading for Thalia's tree, but he was trapped at the bonfire when Connor and Travis Stoll walked over to talk to him. Luke grumbled under his breath, not in the mood to be bothered with his 'brothers' when he should be out their saving Thalia.

"Luke," Connor started, "You okay?"

"You've seemed kinda tense ever since this morning," Travis said, "The pigeon attack wasn't your fault, you know. No one blames you."

"Yeah, we don't blame you at all," Connor chimed in. Travis elbowed him in the ribs, perhaps for no playing it cool enough, "I mean, that would be stupid."

"Um, thanks guys," Luke said, feeling awkward, "And listen, sorry for not seeing you off like I said I would. I was talking to Annabeth and then Percy had news on Thalia so..."

"Oh no, dude, it's fine" Travis insisted, "We totally get it. I mean, we didn't even care. It was, like, whatever. It was stupid anyway, right Connor?"

Connor nodded.

"But maybe some other time," Travis said, sounding hopeful, "Well, me and Connor had this sick prank planned out for the Demeter kids, and we heard back when you first arrive at camp, before… You know…" Luke was sure Travis hadn't meant to, but his eyes darted up to look at Luke's scar before turning away, quickly, "But, anyway, we heard you used to be, like, the prank master, or something..! So we thought-"

Luke knew exactly what they were talking about. When he first arrived at Camp Half-Blood, it had taken him a long time to get over Thalia, and to be honest, he still hadn't. Not fully anyway. But after a long time, he had gotten used to being at camp and loosened up some. It started with pranking Annabeth and her siblings from time to time to try and get a rise out of his adopted little sister, but eventually he came to enjoy the occasional prank on other cabins as well. He pretty much became legendary in the Hermes cabin for his pranks, but after awhile he'd grown out of it, and after his quest… Well, things were never quite the same…

"Look guys," Luke cut them off, "It's nice that you thought of me and all, but my pranking days are way behind me, especially now with Thalia's tree sick and all. I mean, after today's attack, I think that should show you guys just how serious things are. Maybe you two should be thinking about giving this whole prankster thing a rest too."

The Stolls faces dropped.

They gave each other a look and Travis took a moment to swallow hard before responding, rubbing the back of his neck, "Ya know what, you're probably right. This prankster stuff is getting kinda old. The whole thing was a dumb idea anyway, Sorry I asked. Just, forget we mentioned it."

It would have been easier to buy if the two hadn't looked so upset… Luckily enough for Luke, he was saved when Tantalus spoke over the crowd, making the Stolls brothers return to their seats and listen to whatever dumb announcement Tantalus was about to make.

"Well, that was lovely!" The activities director grinned, coming forward with a toasted marshmallow on a stick. He tried to pluck it off, real casual-like, but before he could even touch it, the marshmallow flew off the stick. Tantalus made a wild grab for it, but the marshmallow committed suicide, diving into the flames. Tantalus turned back toward us, smiling coldly. "Now then! Some announcements about tomorrow's schedule."

"Sir," Luke heard Percy speak up from a few seats over. Tantalus's eye twitched.

"Our kitchen boy has something to say?" Some of the Ares campers snickered, but Percy ignored them, standing up from the crowd, before looking in the general direction of the Athena cabin, at whom he could only assume was Annabeth. A moment later and she was standing as well.

Annabeth spoke over the crowd, "We have an idea to save the camp."

Dead silence and the campfire flared bright yellow. Luke sat up straighter, feeling grateful that he hadn't gone back to Thalia's tree and missed this. He didn't know if Annabeth and Percy would have any more luck convincing Tantalus than he did but he was willing to bet that announcing it in front of the whole camp would give them an edge.

"Not this about a quest again," Tantalus growled, "I already told your friend earlier, there will be no quest!"

"But sir!" Percy insisted, "The Golden Fleece. We know where it is!"

The flames burned orange and even Luke leaned in, feeling stupid that he hadn't stayed to hear this part of the conversation between Percy and Annabeth. Percy spoke quickly, before Tantalus could stop him, explaining the whole story, about how he'd been having dreams about Grover and Polyphemus's island. Annabeth stepped in and reminded the campers what the Fleece could do, and Luke had to admit, their proposal sounded much more convincing than his did, or at least, they sounded more prepared.

"The Fleece can save the camp," Annabeth concluded. "I'm certain of it."

"Nonsense," said Tantalus. "We don't need saving."

Luke smirked as the camp turned to stared at him, which made him look uncomfortable.

"Besides," he added quickly, "The Sea of Monsters? That's hardly an exact location. You wouldn't even know where to look!"

"Yes, I would," Percy argued.

Annabeth whispered something to him quietly and Percy nodded.

"30, 31, 75, 12," He said.

"Ooo-kay," Tantalus laughed. "Thank you for sharing those meaningless numbers."

"They're sailing coordinates," Percy explained. "Latitude and longitude. I, uh, learned about it in social studies."

Luke was shocked, and admittedly a little impressed. Percy and Annabeth had always struck him as a brains and bronze type duo. And, yeah, Luke had always known that Annabeth was easily both brains and bronze all on her own, but it hadn't occurred to him that Percy could be as well.

Annabeth was looking impressed as well as she worked out what he had said in her head, "30 degrees, 31 minutes north, 75 degrees, 12 minutes west. He's right! The Gray Sisters gave us those coordinates. That'd be somewhere in the Atlantic, off the coast of Florida. The Sea of Monsters. We need a quest!"

"Wait just a minute," Tantalus said.

But Luke wasn't about to give him a minute. He began to chant.

"We need a quest! We need a quest!" It wasn't long before the other campers joined in and soon the whole camp was chanting. Luke grinned as the flames of the bonfire rose higher. Tantalus looked around distressed, managing to catch Luke's eye for a moment and sending him a cold glare. Luke only smirked.

"It isn't necessary!" Tantalus insisted.

"WE NEED A QUEST! WE NEED A QUEST!"

"Fine!" Tantalus shouted, his eyes blazing with anger. "You brats want me to assign a quest!?"

"YES!"

"Very well," he agreed, and Luke felt like flying. If Percy and Annabeth got a quest, that meant they needed to take one more person with them, and why not choose the camp's temporary leader, best swordsmen, and Annabeth's adoptive big brother? Normally the obvious choice would have been Raven, but she wasn't around, so the only other option was Percy's brother Tyson, and while Luke didn't mind the kid, from what he'd seen Percy wasn't exactly fond of his little half-brother. Not that he blamed Percy. It was sort of like how he felt about the Stolls brothers. It didn't exactly feel right to have new siblings pushed on you just because your godly parent couldn't keep it in their pants. But, Anyway, Luke was almost certain if he asked to come along, the two younger demigods would agree.

"I shall authorize a champion to undertake this perilous journey, to retrieve the Golden Fleece and bring it back to camp. Or die trying." Tantalus continued, "I will allow our champion to consult the Oracle! And choose two companions for the journey. And I think the choice of champion is obvious."

Tantalus turned to glare at Annabeth and Percy, and suddenly Luke's good feeling vanished. Something didn't feel right... "The champion should be one who has earned the camp's respect, who has proven resourceful in the chariot races and courageous in the defense of the camp. You shall lead this quest … Clarisse!"

Ah, yes, that's what didn't feel right.

The Ares cabin burst into applause, stomping their feet and cheering wildly, calling out the girl's name over and over again, "CLARISSE! CLARISSE!"

Clarisse stood up, looking stunned. She looked around at the other camper's faces before, swallowing, slowly and letting her chest swelled with pride. "I accept the quest!"

"Wait!" Percy shouted, "Grover is my friend. The dream came to me."

"Sit down!" yelled one of the Ares campers. "You had your chance last summer!"

"Yeah, he just wants to be in the spotlight again!" another said.

Clarisse glared at her rival before repeating, "I accept the quest! I, Clarisse, daughter of Ares, will save the camp!"

The Ares campers cheered even louder.

Luke had to admit, of all the terrible ways Tantalus could have tried to fail this quest, things could be worse. Clarisse wasn't… well the brightest, but she was brave and her heart was in the right place most of the time. With the right help, she had a fair chance of succeeding.

Annabeth protested, and the other Athena campers joined in. Everybody else started taking sides- shouting and arguing and throwing marshmallows. Luke was trying to settle everyone down when Tantalus shouted, "Silence, you brats!" His tone stunned the entire camp.

"Sit down!" he ordered. "And I will tell you a ghost story."

Luke didn't like the sound of that, but he sat down like everyone else, shifting uncomfortably in his seat, wanting nothing more than to get to Clarisse and talk with her. If he could talk with her, then maybe, just maybe he could convince her to take him along. However, for now he was stuck listening to Tantalus speak, which he had to admit was a bit off-putting. The evil aura radiating off him was as strong as any monster Luke had seen on his adventures.

"Once upon a time there was a mortal king who was beloved of the Gods!" Tantalus put his hand on his chest, making it obvious that he was referring to himself.

"This king," he said, "was even allowed to feast on Mount Olympus. But when he tried to take some ambrosia and nectar back to earth to figure out the recipe- just one little doggie bag, mind you, but the gods punished him. They banned him from their halls forever! His own people mocked him! His children scolded him! And, oh yes, campers, he had horrible children. Children- just- like- you."

He pointed a crooked finger at several people in the audience, including Percy, Annabeth and Luke.

"Do you know what he did to his ungrateful children?" Tantalus asked softly. "Do you know how he paid back the gods for their cruel punishment? He invited the Olympians to a feast at his palace, just to show there were no hard feelings. No one noticed that his children were missing. And when he served the gods dinner, my dear campers, can you guess what was in the stew?"

No one dared answer. The firelight glowed dark blue, reflecting evilly on Tantalus's crooked face.

"Oh, the gods punished him in the afterlife," Tantalus croaked. "They did indeed. But he'd had his moment of satisfaction, hadn't he? His children never again spoke back to him or questioned his authority. And do you know what? Rumor has it that the king's spirit now dwells at this very camp, waiting for a chance to take revenge on ungrateful, rebellious children. And so … are there any more complaints, before we send Clarisse off on her quest?"

Silence.

Tantalus nodded at Clarisse. "The Oracle, my dear. Go on."

Clarisse shifted uncomfortably. Even she didn't want the glory of leading a quest at the price of being Tantalus's pet. She bit her lip, speaking softly,"Sir-"

"Go!" he snarled.

She bowed awkwardly and hurried off toward the Big House.

"What about you, Percy Jackson?" Tantalus asked. "No comments from our dishwasher?"

Percy was quiet.

"Good," Tantalus said. "And let me remind everyone- no one leaves this camp without my permission. Anyone who tries … Well, if they survive the attempt, they will be expelled forever, but it won't come to that. The harpies will be enforcing curfew from now on, and they are always hungry! Good night, my dear campers. Sleep well."

Luke almost stood up, wanting to protest in outrage. With the harpies enforcing curfew, who was going to take night duty!? His guard duty schedule was out the window, and if all went well with Clarisse he wouldn't be around long enough to come up with a new plan.

_It doesn't matter,_ Luke told himself _You're going to be back with the fleece so fast that nothing will have a chance to go wrong…_

Tantalus waved his hand quickly and the bonfire was extinguished. The other campers trailed off toward their cabins in the dark, but Luke snuck away quickly in the direction of the big house. He just hoped Clarisse would listen to him...

* * *

Luke only waited a few minutes outside the big house for Clarisse but it felt like hours. He stood around the corner of the house, waiting for Clarisse to finish with the oracle and praying that Tantalus wouldn't show up anytime soon.

When Clarisse finally did show up, she exited the big house looking white as a sheet and looking down at her feet. She was muttering something to herself but Luke didn't have time to stand around and listen. He had to catch her before she returned to her cabin and asked to of her siblings to come with her. Luke caught up with her as she walked down the steps of the big house.

"Clarisse." she turned so quickly Luke thought for a moment she was going to punch him in the gut, "Woah, it's alright, it's just me!"

"Luke?" Clarisse raised an eyebrow, looking him over suspiciously, "What do you want?"

"Fair enough," Luke said, "I do want something from you, but first, congratulations on getting your first quest. I know it's a big moment for you. It was for me too."

Clarisse turned pale again and looked down, suddenly very interested in the dirt under her fingernails, "Yeah? Thanks. And what did you want?"

"Listen, Clarisse," Luke sighed, "I know you have your cabin mates and you and I aren't close but… But I was close to Thalia, and if there's something that can be done to save her I wanna help. I'm a good fighter, and I'm excellent with a sword, plus I have experience. I know what it's like in the real world and I've been on a quest before. Please, Clarisse, please allow me to come with you to find the fleece. Please."

Clarisse looked him over a couple times, "Okay."

Luke looked at her stunned, "Really? You're just...Okay with this? I expected this to be more of a fight, to be honest..."

Clarisse shrugged, "If you were Percy maybe, but I don't hate you, and besides, it's like you said, you're a good fighter and your experienced, so it's not like you're gonna slow me down. And none of my brothers or sisters have been on a quest before. It doesn't sound like a bad idea to me," She shrugged, "So, why not?"

Luke sighed with relief and grinned, "Thank you, Clarisse..."

"Yeah whatever," She huffed, "Don't go getting all sappy on me. I was just strategizing."

"Still… Thank you," Luke smiled, shaking his head, "So what did the oracle say to you? What's the prophecy?"

"I- uh," Clarisse once again turned pale and looked down, which wasn't a good sign, Luke frowned, "That's my business. It's my prophecy, Castellan."

"Clarisse," Luke frowned, "If it's bad you can tell me. I won't care. It doesn't change anything. Prophecies never mean what you think they do. Heck, mine told me I'd be returning home with eternal glory, and look what happened. So, out with it."

"I could still change my mind about letting you tag along you know," Clarisse growled.

Luke raised an eyebrow.

"Fine!" Clarisse sighed, exasperated, "_You shall sail the iron ship with warriors of bone. You shall find what you seek and make it your own. But despair for your life entombed within stone. And fail without friends, to fly home alone._ Happy now?"

"Not very, that sounds pretty bad..." Luke admitted.

"Thanks, Captain Obvious," Clarisse muttered.

"Ah, so there's my Champion!" Tantalus's voice cut through the dark like a knife, making both Luke and Clarisse jump, "And the Castellan boy… Tell me, what are you still doing out of bed? I guess you were thinking a Harpy's stomach would be a very nice place to spend the night. And bothering the leader of our latest quest? I truly hope you weren't trying to talk her out of going."

"Actually, Sir," Clarisse said quietly, "Luke's coming with me on the quest."

Tantalus's grin turned into a scowl, "Him, my dear? Wouldn't you rather pick someone more suited for the quest. Perhaps a couple of your siblings would be a wiser choice."

"But, Sir," Clarisse argued, "Luke is our camp's best swordsmen and he's one of the only people at camp to have been on a quest before."

"A quest that you failed," Tantalus sneered, and Luke felt anger pool in his stomach, "Is that not correct, my boy? You see, when someone such as yourself catches my interest, I do my research."

"Is that so?" Luke scowled.

"Now, Clarisse," Tantalus grinned, "Luke failed on his own quest. Can you imagine the damage he would cause to your's? Are you sure you want him to come along?"

Clarisse stepped away from Tantalus and glared daggers at him, "Yes, I'm sure. I want Luke with me on my quest."

"Very well then," Tantalus lost the smug look on his face and growled, "You two better head back to your cabins and gather your stuff then. You leave tonight!"

"Tonight? But sir..!" Clarisse looked stunned and unsure of what to do but Tantalus didn't wait around to hear her complaints and objections. He stalked up the stairs of the big house and went inside. Clarisse and Luke both waited until the door shut behind him to let out a long breath.

"I hate that guy!" Clarisse growled, "I hate it that everyone thinks I'm his little pet! I don't always go along with what he says, he's crazy!"

Luke got the idea that she had insisted that he come with her on her quest just to prove that she didn't always go along with what Tantalus said, but he didn't say anything, "Come on you should talk to whichever sibling you wanted to take with you and pack up. I don't think the leaving tonight part was optional..."

* * *

Luke wasn't sure what made him stop by Percy's cabin after talking to Clarisse, but he did. Somehow it just felt like the right thing to do. Maybe he felt like he should thank him. After all, Percy was the reason he'd gotten the quest in the first place...

He stopped outside the door when he heard Percy's brother, Tyson, speaking in a miserable voice, "Annabeth doesn't like Cyclopes. You … don't want me along?"

Luke already knew Annabeth hated Cyclopes. He knew perfectly well why she hated them, and while he had feelings about them, Luke knew there was a much more direct reason for what happened to Thalia, and it wasn't Cyclopes. It was the gods. But he couldn't think about that right now. Raven had warned him that his feeling towards the gods would linger and tempt him, but it was important for him never to give in. She had told him it was best to just not think about it...

"Oh, that's not it," Percy argued halfheartedly. "Annabeth likes you. Really."

Luke couldn't help but think Percy's lying skills were pathetic. Annabeth hadn't exactly been subtle about showing her feelings towards Percy's brother.

"Daddy always cared for m-me," Tyson sniffled after a while, "Now … I think he was mean to have a Cyclops boy. I should not have been born."

Luke couldn't help but feel bad for the poor kid. He'd seen how the others at camp treated him and he already knew about Percy's feelings towards the Cyclops boy, and with all that going on, things couldn't be easy for the poor guy.

"Don't talk that way! Poseidon claimed you, didn't he? So … he must care about you … a lot…." Percy's voice trailed off. He was silent for a long time before speaking again, "Tyson … camp will be a good home for you. The others will get used to you. I promise."

When he heard Tyson snoring that's when Luke quietly opened the door, knocking softly. Loudly enough to get Percy's attention but careful not to wake Tyson. Percy was sitting on his bunk and looked up tiredly.

"You heading to bed?" Luke asked.

Percy frowned and shook his head, "Can't sleep. Or, that is, I don't think I want to. Shouldn't you be in bed too?"

"Long story," Luke sighed, "Wanna walk and talk? We can go down by the beach."

Percy gazed at him skeptically until Luke showed him a six pack of Cokes and raised an eyebrow. Technically, no outside snacks or drinks were allowed inside camp but his cabin mates were always sneaking things in from the nearest convenience store so Luke had no shortage of mortal snacks. The Cokes finally got Percy to get up off the bed and followed him.

"Okay, walk and talk it is," Percy said grabbing a Coke.

The sound of the surf rumbled in the distance as Luke and Percy snuck out of the Poseidon cabin. The smell of the strawberry fields lingered in the air, and the sound dryads laughing in the wood as they chased owls through the forest echoed peacefully through the night. But something felt wrong about the night. Luke sighed, once again reminded of how the sickness of Thalia's tree, was spreading across the valley...

"So, Percy," Luke said slowly, as they walked down to the beach, "I wanted to talk to you."

"That much was obvious, yeah," Percy said, sipping his Coke.

"I guess I wanted to say thanks for earlier," Luke explained, "You stood up to Tantalus. You convinced him to grant the quest to look for the Golden Fleece. Even I couldn't do that."

Percy looked up at him, "Oh..! So that's what Tantalus meant earlier when he said he'd already told my friend no. You asked him to grant you a quest too? But how did you know?"

"I heard you and Annabeth talking earlier," Luke explained.

"Well, at least there's a logical explanation," Percy said, "I already deal with Raven mysteriously knowing things that she shouldn't… Anyway, It looks like none of us get to go on the quest now..."

Percy kicked a rock up happily into the shallows of the ocean. Luke put his hands in his pockets and looked down, slowly coming to a stop in the sand and looking out over the water.

"Actually, Percy, that's the other thing I wanted to talk to you about," Luke admitted.

Percy stared at him stunned, "You don't mean..."

Luke nodded "Clarisse agreed to let me come with her on her quest, I'm leaving tonight."

"I don't know weather to be angry or relieved… " Percy grumbled.

"But that's my other point Percy," Luke said, "I'm leaving. I'm not gonna be around to look after the camp, so promise me you'll look after things while I'm gone, and keep an eye on Annabeth for me, okay?"

Suddenly it struck Luke that he never had gotten the chance to apologize to her for earlier. He felt bad but he supposed there was no time left now. He had to leave with Clarisse shortly. He barely had enough time to be talking to Percy. He still felt bad for yelling at her though. He hated the idea of leaving when she was probably still upset with him. He just hoped he'd get the chance to make it up to her when he got back.

Percy snorted at Luke's request, looking out over the water, and shoving his free hand in the pocket of his sweatshirt, "I'm pretty sure _she's_ the one keeping an eye on _me_ most of the time."

"Still," Luke said, "I'd just feel better about leaving her here if I knew someone was looking after her."

"Okay," Percy said, "Sure I guess, But Luke, seriously, Annabeth isn't a kid anymore, She doesn't need to be looked after. If you ask me, she does a pretty decent job of look after both herself and me most of the time."

Luke wasn't completely sure how to respond. He wasn't so sure he agreed with Percy. He knew Annabeth did a good job of keeping Percy in line most of the time but he didn't really agree with him when he said that Annabeth wasn't a kid anymore. That she could take care of herself. Luke wasn't sure he agreed with that. Annabeth was still young and naive. Malcolm was proof of that. But Luke thought it was best not to say anything so instead he gazed up at the night sky and sipped his Coke.

The sky was clear and starry. Luke had no problem finding all the constellations and remembering their names. He had taught most of them to Annabeth when they were still on the road together and they spent almost every night under the stars together. There was Sagittarius, Hercules, Corona Borealis- Luke was so busy memorizing them all over again that he nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard a voice say, "Beautiful, aren't they?"

Luke turned his head towards the direction of the voice and nearly reached for his sword. He relaxed as soon as he was sure it wasn't a monster, but tensed back up immediately when he figured out who it was. As soon as he did, he was wishing it had been a monster. Anything would have been better than this.

Luke could see a guy in nylon running shorts and a New York City Marathon T Shirt was walking down the beach only to stop a few feet ahead of him and stare. He had a slim and fit figure as usual, with salt-and-pepper hair and a smile that was all too familiar. Luke restrained himself but as soon as he saw the man's face he felt like punching it in. Here he was, trying his hardest not to think about how much he hated the gods, when of course the object of ninety percent of his anger showed up.

Luke and the man in front of him regarded each other for a long time. Luke hated the way he looked at him. The expression that man wore was so complicated and confusing, just like their relationship was. He looked like he was sort of sad look, but at the same time he also a, kind of, looked proud in a way. There was also a mix of a bunch of different emotions in there too, but Luke couldn't identify them. Nor did he want to.

When the man finally spoke it wasn't even to Luke, which made Luke even angrier. Instead he turned to Percy and smiled his usual sly smile, "May I join you?" he asked. "I haven't sat down in ages."

"Typical," Luke scoffed in disgust, folding his arms across his chest.

Percy looked between Luke and the jogger a couple different times before answering, "Uh, sure?"

He smiled. "Your hospitality does you credit. Oh, and Coca-Cola! May I?" He stood next to Percy and popped a soda, taking a long drink, "Ah … that hits the spot. Peace and quiet at-"

"What are you doing here?" Luke demanded.

The jogger looked over at Luke just long enough to open his mouth before his cell phone rang. The jogger sighed and pulled his phone out of his pocket. Luke stared at him disbelievingly. He was taking phone calls now?

"I swear to the gods if you pick that up," Luke warned.

The jogger looked like he was about to say something, but simply shook his head and sighed, "You really haven't changed Luke..."

"Neither have you apparently," Luke spat.

Percy cut in, pointing, wide-eyed at the jogger's phone, "You have snakes on your phone..!"

Luke gritted his teeth as the man turned his attention back to Percy.

"What? Oh, they don't bite. Say hello, George and Martha."

_Hello, George and Martha_, a raspy male voice said inside Luke's head. He could imagine Percy could hear the same thing because the younger demigod's eyes grew even wider.

_Don't be sarcastic_, said a female voice.

_Why not?_ George demanded. _I do all the real work_.

"Oh, let's not go into that again!" The jogger slipped his phone back into his pocket. "Now, where were we … Ah, yes. Peace and quiet."

"Right," Luke hissed, "Peace and quiet. Well as much as I would love to stay and chat, I need to go be someplace that's not here. Basically anywhere where you aren't."

"I'm getting the feeling you too know each other," Percy said, awkwardly.

"I guess you could say that," Luke rolled his eyes, "This is just the man who ruined my entire life and I hate with my entire being."

"Oh yes, yes," The jogger sighed, "Luke's always had a flare for the dramatics. One of these days he's going to realize I'm actually on his side, but until then I find it best not to argue with him. It only make him more upset."

"On my side..!? On my side!?" Luke snapped gritting his teeth, "Tell me when were you on my side when I prayed to you every night and you did nothing, or the one night you did show up only to tell me 'Sorry son I can't do jack for you, have fun dealing with that'!? On my side my ass!"

"Luke, that's not what happened and you know it," The jogger argued, "It's more complicated than that if you would only try to understand you would see that I'm right. That I _am_ on your side, that I _do_ care about you. But you don't want to see it, you want someone to be mad at, so fine, if it has to be me, then it has to be me."

"Oh and how about leaving me with my insane mom," Luke shot back, and gave a weak laugh, "I suppose that's your definition of caring too?"

"Now that's really not fair to your mother-"

Percy stared on at the two as they bickered noisily, finally he cut in, stepping in between the two, "So, I take it you're Luke's dad, Hermes?"

Hermes looked down at Percy and nodded. Luke folded his arms across his chest, seething in anger. He hated his dad. He was always like this, acting as though he had him all figured out. He acted as though his own son was just another of the earth's mysteries that he'd figured out a long time ago. Like Luke's behavior was old news and no longer interested him. It made him furious. He also hated the way he always claimed to care about him and love him, when he clearly didn't. He'd never done anything for Luke. He'd left him alone with his insane mother, he never once sent him any help even when he was in grave danger, and the one time he did show up, he'd asked for one thing. One simple little thing and he couldn't even do that much.

There was a long moment of silence, before Hermes took Luke by the arm and sighed, pulling him just far enough away from Percy to be out of earshot. He glanced back at Percy before giving Luke a hard look which made Luke scowl.

"You know Luke," Hermes said, as if reading his thoughts, "You asked me a long time ago to reveal your fate to you, but I couldn't do it. Now, someone else has done it for me, and I see now that if I had only done what you asked I could have been the one to save you, and I'll admit I was wrong for that. But you assumed I wouldn't tell you because I didn't love you, and you were wrong for that. Did it never even cross your mind that I couldn't tell you your fate because it was too painful for me? That I couldn't bear the thought of telling my own son he was going to die."

"Yeah well, Raven cared about me too, but she knew enough to save me from my fate," Luke snapped back, "You did nothing. You were just going to stand by and let it happen. If you ask me, that's a pretty twisted way of showing someone you care. Or is that how all the gods do it?"

"Luke I-" Hermes argued.

"I deserved to know!" Luke cut him off, "Whatever, you were obviously here for Percy anyway. You made that much clear, so I won't take up any more of your precious time. I have a quest to get going on anyway. You know, to save my _real_ family."

Hermes looked like he wanted to argue more but Luke shrugged out of the god's grip and marched his way back down the beach.

* * *

When he made it back to cabin eleven most of cabin mates were asleep. All except for Jessie Stevens, Roxie Palakiko, Calliope Sawyer and Connor and Travis Stoll. When he entered the cabin all eyes were on him.

"So is it true then?" Calliope asked, "You goin' with Clarisse?"

"Yeah," Luke said, "I'm going with Clarisse. I'm going to find the Golden Fleece and cure Thalia's tree. Then camp can go back to normal."

"And what about camp now?" Calliope demanded, placing her hands on her hips, "Everyone's counting on you and you're just going to run off on some quest!? What if something happens while you're off trying to find some cure for your dead girlfriend!? Shit bro, I know Thalia meant a lot to you but what about us!?"

"Enough!" Luke snapped at her, and Calliope and the others took a step back.

"Damn bro, Uncool," Jessie muttered, "Fine, go then, see if I care..."

"Pathetic, all of you, who needs him anyway," Roxie said, scowling as always. Jessie and Roxie both hopped off their beds and brushed past him on their way outside to sit on the front steps of the cabin.

Luke locked eyes with Calliope, who was usually the sarcastic, funny, strong-willed type, but at the moment she looked like she was holding back tears. She simply shook her head at him and muttered, "Luke Castellan you complete and utter idiot. Gods." And with that she walked past him and joined the others on the front steps.

Then, the only people left awake in the room were Connor and Travis Stoll.

Travis and Connor looked at each other, then back at Luke with obvious sadness and disappointment written on their faces. He knew what this looked like to them. He knew what it looked like to all of them. In their eyes he was abandoning them for Thalia. In their their eyes he was choosing her over them.

Connor and Travis both looked like there were a million things they wanted to say but they eventually looked down sadly and didn't say a word. Luke thought about maybe saying something to make them feel better, but he couldn't think of a word to say. Not that it mattered much because a second later there was a knock at the cabin door.

"One second," Luke called, quickly gathering his things.

In a moments notice Luke had gathered his things and opened the front door to see Clarisse, and her brother, Ajax, standing there with large camouflage colored duffel bags slung over their shoulders, "Are you ready to go?"

Luke sighed, looking back at the Stolls brothers one more time, and glancing once more in Jessie Roxie and Calliope's direction before sighed and slinging his bag over his shoulder as well. "As ready as I'll ever be. Let's go..."


	35. Warning for Spoilers!

**Warning: I've decided to be a dick because i****t's first day of school, and I am in pain. So, I figured I'd share this pain with you lot by giving you all a healthy does of minor spoilers from this story. If you don't wanna hear it and want to be surprised later in the series, I suggest you run. If not, then enjoy and leave me your thoughts, questions, concerns and complaints in a review. Please and thank you and now here are some spoilers as to what happens later in the story of Percy Jackson and the Raven:**

**-Octavian has an actual backstory and it's not a happy one, which explains why he's such a jerk.**

**-Raven and Ethan Nakamura are siblings in more ways than one.**

**-Cursed Daughters of ancient gods are always a fun idea to play with.**

**-But Cursed Gay Daughters of ancient gods are even funner.**

**-Raven and Kelly's Story does not have a happy ending.**

**-Octavian has relatives, including three 7-year-old cousins, which you'll meet later in the story.**

**-Jason Grace + the song Serendipity by Honor Society = Sneak Peek at the end of SoM.**

**-Dear Jiper, I am so sorry.**


	36. Raven 36

Raven

"And the foul monster came to face us with its gaping mouth. Percy bravely stepped forward and slashed at it with riptide, but to no avail! The Chimera swung its massive serpent tail and caught Percy in the leg. I drew forth Artemis and fought off the monster with all I had, but the Chimera had it's sights set on Percy, with it's beady little eyes. It knocked riptide from Percy's hand. However, Percy was quick to rise to his feet once again."

"Now with no weapon in his hand, Percy was defenseless and cornered against the back wall. I stepped forth, determined to save my friend, and raised my weapon to the fight the beast. I seemed helpless. Defeat was practically guaranteed but we heroes never surrendered!"

"Percy looked towards the gaping hole in the floor, hundreds of feet below lay the Mississippi river. He knew it was a safe zone for any son of a sea god. Still, he wasn't sure if he'd survive the jump. However, I knew. I knew for sure that he'd survive to fight another day if he only took the leap, However I had no way of knowing whether or not the same went for myself."

"Still determined to save Percy, I ordered him to jump. My survival was the last thing on my mind. Percy's life was all that mattered. I knew that Percy was the true hero of our tale and therefore must live on. Without hesitation, I pushed him toward the hole. I was more than willing to stay and die if it meant Percy could live on."

"However, Percy had other ideas because he caught my hand tightly in his own and dragged me down along with him. Suddenly we were falling down towards the water below. I didn't remember much of the fall but I do remembered questioning myself and feeling helpless as I fell. Surely there was no way I survived this. I feared for my life, but just as I thought all was lost I suddenly felt-…I-, um," Raven paused, snapping out of her story-telling mode as she realized what she was just about to say: Just as I thought all was lost I suddenly felt Percy's arms around me. Raven felt her cheeks heat up as she pressed her lips tightly together, clearing her throat as she looked down at her audience. The girls sat in a semicircle in front of her, leaning in expectantly.

"Felt what!?" One of the girls asked, impatiently.

A group of the younger Amazons were sitting in front of Raven in the grass, looking up at her like she was a goddess. Raven had thought it was kinda cute, that is, she had, until now. Now that she had come to this part of the story, she just thought it was embarrassing.

Raven had meant to gloss over this part of the story when she came to it, but she'd gotten so caught up in reliving the experience that she'd forgotten. She'd be lying if she said she couldn't feel a small bubble of happiness pooling in her stomach at the memory, but she could also feel a tightness in her chest as well...

The young Amazons in training kept staring up at her, waiting for an answer.

There were about six of them sitting there, all of them around the ages nine to eleven. They had all been oddly fascinated by Raven and her stories and somehow a few mentions of her past had turned into a dramatic retelling of Raven's first quest.

Raven had to admit, she couldn't have asked for a better audiences. The girls had been hanging on her every word from the moment she opened her mouth, looking like a bunch of middle schoolers at their first job interviews in their tight skirts and blouses. They were all grinning up at Raven expectantly, waiting for her to continue her story. Well, all except for one... the oldest girl on the end was just sitting there staring up at Raven with wide eyes, seemingly still shocked by Raven's adventure so far. Raven was pretty sure the girl's name was Willow. She'd been staring at Raven like that the entire time. As if she were a superhero.

Raven cleared her throat.

"Well... um-" she stalled, trying to think of something to say.

"Raven!" Camilla called from across the lawn, "We need your help carrying supplies. I'm sure the girls are willing to listen to the end of your story later."

Raven laughed, grateful for the interruption, thanking the gods as she took her leave, smiling at the girls and stepped over a couple of them to make her way across the clearing. Camilla stood in the shade a couple yards away with the older Amazon warriors, who listened with intent as Camilla went over Jason's plan once more (Since they refused to hear it from Jason directly.) Raven waved back at the younger girls, "I'll finish up later. Sorry girls, duty calls!"

Raven shoved her hands in her sweatshirt pockets and made her way across the clearing.

The uninjured Amazons had all gathered above ground in a big, open clearing, somewhere in a relatively deserted area. The area was relatively woodsy on all sides, surrounding a big clearing of overgrown, yellow grass.

Raven joined the others, standing next to Jason as Camilla finished explaining the details of the plan.

Raven listened to Camilla finish speaking. She had already heard most of this from Jason directly, though, right after he had burst into Camilla's office, unannounced (and nearly getting his head taken off because of it). Raven had always known Jason was smart but she was still pretty impressed with what she'd heard of his plan so far. It had been enough to get Camilla to listen to him at least and, hey, that was something.

In the end Camilla had decided that it was worth a shot.

Jason had figured out what the Amazon's problem was: Arion knew exactly what was going to happening inside the Amazon warehouse. He was ready to bolt at any moment. He had the upper hand-...or, um, hoof..? But anyway, Jason had pieced it all together and figured out that what the Amazons needed to do was make Arion think he was safe, first. Make him believe the he was running to safety while he was really running right into a trap.

The first thing they needed to was get away from the warehouse. Arion already knew his way around the place, and if the Amazons wanted any chance at all, they'd have to lure him to an area where he'd least expect them. A place where he wouldn't expect the Amazons to be. So the first step of their plan was to pack up and drive out to the middle of nowhere. Which they had done, so, check. The Amazon's best trackers, picked up on the general direction that Arion left in the previous night and followed it. Raven and Jason had been ordered to come along, as well, because, well, it was their plan. Although, to be quite honest, Raven would have been just as happy to stay at the warehouse, and wait for Octavian to wake his sorry butt up so she could strangle him.

When they were far enough away from the warehouse they'd parked the vans, gotten out and searched the area until they found this little clearing, which they had decided would serve their purposes perfectly.

Now all they had to do was set their trap and hope Arion showed up.

They'd done a lot of the setting up already, which was easy enough with how many Amazons there were but they were still getting a handle on what the actual plan was.

And how exactly were they going to trap Arion? Well, according to Jason, the same way they detained Hannibal the Elephant back at camp.

I had only heard the first part of his plan so I really had no idea if this would work or not, since Arion was stronger than any Elephant in the world, but Jason assured me it always worked with Hannibal.

"Look carefully," Camilla addressed the others, holding up a large tangled mess of rope. "We all know what this is. Imperial gold rope. It will hold anything. Even Arion. This is what the girls are here for." She gestured across the field to where the younger girls stood, squealing with glee as they talked and laughed, "They're the smallest and can get the closest without being seen. We'll be setting several simple snare traps around the clearing. They're be easily hidden by the grass. When our friend gets close to one, the girls will pull the rope and, if all goes as planned, tie two of his legs together. He won't be able to run. That's where you guys come in. As soon as one of the girls traps him in a snare, that's when you come in a lasso him with your own rope."

Raven smiled leaning against Jason and leaning over to whisper to in his ear, "Wow, a real rodeo..! We really are in Texas, aren't we?"

Jason let out a small snort before covering his mouth to suppressed a smile.

"Now what's so funny, ? Hush, both of you," Camilla chided, tossing them a disapproving look over her shoulder, causing the two of them to chorus mumbled apologies. Camilla turned back to her warriors."Now, where was I?"

Suddenly a voice interrupted from among the crowd, before Camilla could continue. A skinny dark haired girl standing in front of the group spoke up, frowning at her queen with uncertainty, "Pardon me, my queen, but if I may interrupt, I am not sure I'm entirely confident in this boy's plan. I know that imperial gold rope cannot be broken but even if we secure them to the trees Arion's strong enough to escape them. At best we will stall him. Confuse him maybe, but it's not capable of detaining..."

There was a slight murmur.

"If I may?" Jason raised an eyebrow at Camilla, asking permission to address the other Amazons' concerns. Camilla sighed and nodded before stepping out of the way, Jason swallowed hard and stepped forward, addressing the group of Amazons, "With all due respect, that's not the whole plan. You see, back at camp we have this war elephant, Hannibal, and sometimes he gets loose, and we'd always capture him again by using the ropes confused him. Get him looking for an escape. Then while he's confused and recovering we'd cut off all other exits, except for one opening for escape. Which would lead him right back into his cage. That's what we plan to do here"

The dark haired girl in the front still looked unconvinced, "Okay, but that's just an elephant. This is Arion. He's too smart to just run straight into a cage like you want him to. And how do you plan on blocking off all the entrances? We're outside."

"Well, I'm glad you asked." Jason gave the girl a knowing smiled. She gave him a death glare in response and Jason quickly wiped the grin off his face, "Well, Hannibal has escaped a few times… Some may say too many times… But, anyway, the point is, after awhile he caught on to this trick and started to refuse to go into his cage whenever he saw it, so we came up with a solution for that."

The girl looked at him and raised an eyebrow at him, "And what would that be, boy?"

"Well you see, back at camp, my friend, Bobby, takes care of Hannibal," Jason explained, "And Bobby's a legacy of Trivia."

Raven knit her eyebrows at her friend in confusion, "Wait, Trivia…? You mean, like the game..?" She asked, feeling dumb. She had no idea what Jason was talking about and as the Bringer of Hope, Raven was pretty used to knowing just about everything.

Jason did a double take at her. Apparently he was pretty used to her knowing everything too, He shook his head, "No, I mean, Trivia, as in the goddess of crossroads, and graveyards, and witchcraft."

"You mean like the Roman equivalent of Hecate..?" Raven raised an eyebrow, hopefully, hating the fact that she hadn't known this little piece of mythology, well, trivia… Normally she knew everything when it came to greek and roman mythology. Well… At least she knew what she'd read in the PJO and HOO books…

"Yeah," Jason nodded, eyebrows knit in confusion, "The Roman equivalent of Hecate…" He shook his head and turned back to the crowd, "Well, Trivia is also the goddess of the mist. The thing that makes the strange look normal in the eyes of mortals. It alters perception, so sometimes children and legacies of Trivia can control the mist, as well."

Raven let out a breath of understanding when Jason finished explaining this, before grinning at his cleverness, realizing what he was getting at.

"So, my friend, Bobby, explained this to me once, and I'm not completely sure if I get it or not," Jason explained, "But apparently it's easier to control the mist when you're showing someone something they expect to see, or something like that they want to see. So when Hannibal's confused, he starts looking for an escape. That's why it's easy for Bobby to disguise the cage as a clear opening for escape, because that's what Hannibal wants to see."

Another slight murmur sounded from the crowd, although this one sounded less concerned and more impressed with Jason's idea. Raven grinned in agreement as Camilla placed a hand on his shoulder for just a moment, before stepping forward once again, shaking her hand slightly as if she had just touched something unpleasant. She then addressed the other Amazons once again. "I'm assuming Jason's plan made sense to everyone? Good. So, our daughters of Trivia, Evelyn, and Jackie can both control the mist. They'll be in charge of disguising the cage. I'll be selecting a group of you to block off all the exits once Arion is snared. Everyone else will be in charge of tying up Arion once the girls tie his legs. You'll tether the other end of your rope to a tree, otherwise you will lose your rope and then we lose Arion. Again."

"But Queen Camilla!" The same dark haired girl spoke up once more, and Raven sighed, quickly getting tired of her, "How do you intend to block off the exits?"

Camilla sighed as well and pointed upwards at the trees, "There are trees lining this clearing. I want a group of you to hide in the trees and drop down large sheets of wood in between each of these trees in order to close off the exits. They don't have to be sturdy. They just have to be solid enough to make Arion think he's trapped. Hopefully won't go for any of them and try to knock them down if he thinks he has a clear exit. He'll simply bolt for the cage. Now, if there aren't any more questions, you are dismissed. I want this place set up and ready for action!"

Camilla and the other Amazons broke away and started moving around to set up the trap. They got their assignments from their queen and started working. Raven saw a group of girl unloading the Imperial gold cage for Arion out of the bed of a truck and position it snugly between the trunks of two trees.

Jason walked over to Raven with a proud grin on his face and a his chest puffed out. Raven smiled, impressed, and gave him a small round of applause. "Wow, look at you Mister strategy! You came up with all that just from an Iris message with Gracie?"

"Yup," Jason grinned, "She was reading a book. It's a long story. I just hope it works."

"I hope so too… I'd hate to see what happens if it doesn't..." Raven frowned, "I'm just glad you were friends with the elephant tamer."

"He's not an elephant tamer," Jason rolled his eyes.

"Really?" Raven smirked, "Because that's exactly what it sounds like he is to me..."

"Whatever," Jason shook his head, looking up at Raven and pausing for a second before looking past her with a small smile, "Hey Raven, I think you're developing a second shadow there..."

Raven gave her friend a confused look before glancing over her shoulder to catch sight of Willow, the little Amazon girl, in the black skirt and pink blouse, poking out from behind a tree. When Raven realized the girl was staring directly at her, she she felt her cheeks turn red. She offered up a small wave and glanced back at Jason who was smirking at her happily, "Oh that? Well, I think her name is Willow. She's going to snare Arion or something, I guess..."

"I think you have a little admirer," Jason teased, giving her a big smirk as he crossed his arms over his chest, "That's what you get for bragging about all the adventures you had with your boyfriend."

"Not my boyfriend," Raven responded in a sing-song voice.

"But you want him to be," Jason shot back in the same fashion.

Raven stuck her tongue out at him, huffing dramatically and rolling her eyes, Finally she gave him a sweet, sarcastic smile and turned to walk over to the tree Willow was hiding behind.

Raven looked down at the small, black-haired girl and gave her a friendly smile. Willow looked back up at her, her face red, probably embarrassed over having been caught spying.

Raven knew Willow was the oldest of the younger girls she'd been talking to, but even still she was still a tiny girl. She was only two or three years younger than Raven, but Raven still had a good few inches on her. Other than the height different, though, the two girls looked as though they could be sisters. They both had the same jet black hair, pale ivory skin, and pretty almond shaped eyes. The other difference between the two girls was that Willow's eyes were dark enough that Raven couldn't tell where the iris ended and the pupil began, While Raven's eyes were a soft blue, with small flecks of gray in them.

Not wanting to insult the poor girl, Raven tried to bite back the urge to lean down to talk to her, as she started a conversation, "So, um, Willow right?" Raven asked, smiling in an attempt to be friendly. The girl's eyes widened slightly before nodded vigorously, as if she couldn't believe Raven had remembered it. Raven nodded in return, giving an awkward chuckle and rubbing the back of his neck, "You liked my story I take it?"

Willow nodded once again, just as vigorously. She seemed to debat saying something in her mind for a moment before opening her mouth to speak, giving Raven an uncertain look, "What you said in your story… Did that all really happen..?"

Raven blinked for a moment, before chuckling a little at the girl's question. A year ago she wouldn't have thought it possible. To think that the answer was yes! It was incredible. To think, a girl was asking her if the Percy Jackson story really happened, and the honest to god answer was yes. For a moment Raven got that feeling she'd had for the first few months after she'd made her wish. She felt like this was a dream… Raven smiled down at Willow and sighed happily.

"Yeah," Raven said, her voice dreamy, "Yeah, it really happened. All of it. And I was there..."

Willow's eyes grew wide, "You mean it? You really fought that chimera thing..!? And you travel around the country on your own, a-and you- you protect yourselves against monster..?" The girl looked determined, and excited as her pressed for answers, bouncing on the balls of her feet in anticipation, "And there are more like you?! Like Percy!?"

Raven had to admit, Willow reminded her of herself whenever she started a new Percy Jackson Book. How excited she'd get when a new development arose and how determined she was to find the answers. Raven grinned. This girl really was like a younger her, wasn't she. Raven nodded along, laughing a little.

"Yes, Yes, Yes, and Yes," Raven assured her, placing a hand on each of her shoulders to get her to sit still, before laughing "That's a lot of bouncing, girl, you're really that excited over my story?"

"Right, yeah!" Willow shook her head in an attempt to get a grip and sat back on her heels, playing with the hem of her skirt and blushing, embarrassed, "Um, sorry, I'll stop..!"

Raven grinned, softly, "Don't stop. You're excited, I get it. If you're excited about something, hang onto that, don't ever be ashamed to show it off, okay?"

Willow stared up at Raven with wide eyes, nodding, "Okay..."

"Good," Raven hummed, happily, patting Willow on the shoulder, and preparing to join Jason and the others unloading supplies, "Anyway, be careful out there, capturing Arion's no easy task, ya know. If everything goes right, maybe we'll leave here with everyone in one piece. I'll finish the rest of my story later, okay?"

"Wait!" Willow said, catching Raven's wrist, "You said if I'm excited about something, I should hold onto that thing, right?"

"That's right..." Raven blinked curiously.

"I'm excited about heroes who can take care of themselves and fight monsters and stuff!" Willow explained, "I- I wanna do that, too..! That's what I'm excited about! I wanna go adventuring and fight monsters like you and Percy do! I wanna be able to protect myself all on my own! If that's what I'm excited about, I should hang on to that, shouldn't I?"

"I- um," Raven bite her lip, nervously. Holding onto your passions was nice and all, when your passions are stories and characters, but becoming a hero…? Well… That was what Raven had done wasn't it? But that had been magic. And she'd had friends like Annabeth and Percy and training from Luke, who was probably the best swordsmen she knew, and she'd had a safe haven at Camp Half Blood to return to… This girl, becoming a hero all on her own, without any kind of protection? Raven wasn't so sure she'd make it….

"You think I could do it, don't you?" Willow pressed, staring up at her.

"Listen, Willow," Raven said, "It's great that you're passionate about being a hero and all, but you don't wanna be a hero like me. It's not fun, it's scary and hard-work. You're safer here with the Amazons. Don't you wanna train with them and become a tough Amazon? Don't you want that?"

Willow let go of Raven's wrist as she finished talking, her hand flopped to her side, in disappointment. Raven furrowed her brow in confusion, as Willow's expression turned bitter, scrunching up her nose in disgust, at the mention of her becoming an Amazon.

"No!" Willow said in a loud whisper, "I don't wanna be an Amazon! I- I never..."

Raven gave a nervous chuckled, trying to reassure the girl, "Come on, Willow I'm sure you don't mean that. You're gonna be a great Amazon..!"

Willow shook her head furiously, her short black hair whipping around her face, "No..! You don't-... I just don't wanna be an Amazon, okay? I wanna do what you do! I wanna travel and see the world and make friends with other demigods and- and-... and fight for stuff! I don't wanna grow up and sell things online and listen to Camilla all the time and order stupid brainless guys around a warehouse! It's stupid! I don't even wanna order boys around! I like boys! You fight with a boy!"

Raven blinked down at Willow, who was staring at her like she was a superhero come to life again. She wasn't exactly sure what to say to this girl. She'd never thought that… Well, it had never crossed her mind that maybe not every girl who was an Amazon, wanted to be an Amazon. She wasn't exactly sure what to do in this situation. Part of her, the part of her which saw Willow as a mini-her, wanted to tell Willow to go for it. After all, that's what she'd done, and it had been, by far, the best decision of her life. Her life had been terrible, she had hated the future she was doomed to have, so she had created a new one. Who was to say that it wouldn't be the same for Willow? Who was she to keep Willow from that kind of happiness?

Yet another part of her, probably the more realistic part of her, told her Willow wasn't her. This wasn't the same as having a wish magically granted. This was a girl blindly flinging herself into danger and hoping for the best. She didn't have the same advantages as Raven. She would get slaughtered out there, and if Raven just let her do that, wasn't that on her?

Raven wanted to scream. This was hard. How come she suddenly felt responsible for this little girl? She had no idea what to tell her. It wasn't as if she sat around everyday wondering what she'd do if she ever accidently inspired an eleven year old girl to be a hero and throw away her life and beliefs as an Amazon. Someone would have to be clinically insane to even come up with a scenario like this.

"Listen Willow, I- um, er..." Raven tried to think of something to say.

"Raven!" Raven felt body flood with relief when she heard her name being called over by the pickup trucks where they were unloading huge pieces of plywood. She bite her lip and looked awkwardly back at Willow, placing two hands firmly on the girl's shoulders.

"Listen Willow," Raven smiled, "We'll, um, we'll talk about this later, okay? Right now, though, we need to capture Arion before he hurts anyone else. That's what a hero does. They help to save people. Got that?"

Willow nodded slowly, getting a determined look on her face, "Alright… Got it… "

Raven smiled, releasing Willow and taking a deep breath to calm her nerves before slipping away into the crowd and towards the pick-up truck where Jason stood waiting for her, holding up a big piece of plywood, nearly twice as tall as Raven.

Jason smiled as she walked over, and knocked on the wood with his free hand, "Hey, Camilla said I could help lower this part of the blockade into place. I'm gonna be sitting in that tree over there."

Jason pointed, and Raven nodded.

"You're gonna lower that huge thing all by yourself?" Raven tilted her head, "How much does that thing weight?"

"Well not all by myself," Jason admitted, "But it isn't all that heavy, really. And besides, there are holes at the top for threading ropes through. That way, we can tie it up in the branches until it's time and we can lower it down quicker when we need to. Pretty smart right?"

"Yeah, yeah, you're a genius," Raven smirked.

"Thank you," Jason beamed.

"So what am gonna be doing in all of this?" she asked, turning to look around the clearing, "You got a job for me in this master plan of yours, genius Grace?"

"Well, it depends," Jason shrugged, "Are you any good at climbing trees?"

"Pfft," Raven laughed, "Am I good at climbing trees? The first time I ever fought a battle with Percy, I jumped out of a tree and knocked a guy unconscious. Ha, 'Am I good at climbing trees' he asks."

"Well then, you can help me with this plank of plywood," Jason said, "Come on, let's get this trap set up. I don't want Arion to show up before we have everything set up… That would be an even bigger disaster than it would be if this plan fails…"

* * *

Raven was pretty sure the last time she had been this bored, it had been pre-wish.

She'd been sitting in a tree all day. The sun was starting to set and if her suspicions were correct she had several splinters in her butt. This whole 'sitting in a tree' thing had been much more fun when she'd been waiting for Clarisse to attack Percy. At least then she had known something was going to happen that time. Ah, yes, she missed the good old days, back when she knew things were going to happen.

She hated being away from Percy. All bets were off without him. She had weighed her options now and make things up as she went. She missed sitting back and watching her book unfold around her and only ever stepping in when she wanted to adjust the situation or provide moral support or be a friend. She used to be the mastermind of her favorite series, and snow she was sitting in a flipping tree. Nothing really thrilled her about this stupid quest. I mean, she had gotten to meet Jason and that was pretty cool, but had missed fangirling and teasing Percy with her future powers. She had so many plans for the Sea of Monsters too. She was going to help get Reyna and Hylla off Circe's island before the whole pirates thing and smack Percy for not appreciating Tyson and maybe even duel Malcolm on the Andromeda. Honestly, If Arion ever showed up and allowed her to get out of this stupid tree, she swore she was never going on another quest she didn't know the outcome of again...

Jason groaned from a couple branches over, "There's enough gold in this field to make a pawn shop owner cry, when is Arion going to show up?"

Raven scowled at him. Sitting in this tree was making her bitter, "I don't know Jason, if I was with Percy and Annabeth right now, I might have an answer to that kinda question, but I'm not, so I don't and it sucks..! I mean it's not like I'd actually give them a straight answer, but at least I'd have it..."

"Raven, that makes absolutely no sense..." Jason shook his head.

"Thank you," Raven said, "I've been making sense ever since I showed up at your stupid camp and it's driving me crazy. I miss not making sense. Not making worked for me. It was fun. I didn't make sense until I did, and then everyone was like 'Oooooh!' It was my thing. It was what I was known for. What am I known for here?"

"I'm pretty sure you're still known for not making sense here," Jason assured her.

"Yeah but it's not the same..." Raven pouted, "Arion needs to show up soon before I go completely insane and give away all my secrets."

As far as setup had gone, it was amazing what you could do with enough Imperial gold rope, some plywood and some fake foliage. They had tied up the plywood between each of the trees surrounding the clearing and lift them up into the branches where Raven and Jason and some of the other Amazons were hiding now. Some fake foliage was used to hide the plywood from view, now all they had to do was lower it with the rope and hold it in place when Arion showed up.

As for the ground, Imperial gold rope had been fastened into snares and baited using dozens of shiny pieces of gold. The younger girls, including Willow, had been hidden using more fake foliage, and were now waiting to pull as soon as they saw Arion step into one of their traps. The others waited with Imperial gold lassos in hand to restain and confuse Arion into running into the cage Evelyn and Jackie were ready to disguise with the mist whenever Arion showed up.

Now all they had to do was wait.

And Wait. And wait and wait and wait…

Raven was going crazy. She was about to start babbling to Jason again when there was a sound. The whole area became drop dead silent and Raven froze as there was a slight ruffling from the bushes below. Could it be? Raven craned her neck to see. There, with his hard eyes and pointed ears and golden-brown fur, in all his glory was Arion. Yes! It was him! Yes! Yes! Yes! Now was their chance. They just had to wait for Arion to wander into one of their snares.

Arion was sniffing around with his nose in the grass, pawing at the ground with his hooves, wandering closer and closer to a piece of bait, and closer to a snare. Who's snare it was, Raven couldn't tell, but she found herself hoping it wasn't Willow's. Raven had no idea why she suddenly felt responsible for the girl, but she did.

Raven was so caught up in thought she would have missed the action completely if it weren't for a high pitched whiny and all the yelling and screaming.

Apparently Raven wasn't too lucky because, this time, she didn't get her wish. When Arion's legs were pulled together in a snare, it was Willow's snare, who yanked it tight and gave a shout to the others in the trees before giving a high pitched scream.

Camille had given precise instructions before they set up that everyone was to tether their Imperial gold ropes to a tree, but apparently Willow hadn't gotten the message because her rope was completely untethered. Well, actually, that was a lie. It was kind of tethered, if you counted the rope tangling around her legs as tethered. Raven didn't think that would help any.

There was a hard yank as Arion whinnied in defiance and reared up angrily, yanking Willow from her hiding place in the bushes. The other girls, didn't even seem to notice because they continued with their plan without even batting an eye, lassoing Arion from the trees as Arion kicked and bucked, just a few feet from where Willow lay, trying to get untangled.

"Crap," Raven hissed, shoving her rope at Jason, "Sorry Jason, you're gonna have to take care of this on your own!"

"Raven are you crazy! Wait!" Jason yelled, but Raven wasn't listening

Raven hopped down from the tree with ease as she heard Camille yell at the other Amazon's to lower the barriers. Raven barely glanced around to see the planks of wood being lowered into place but a moment later, Raven and Willow were trapped in an enclosed clearing with a very strong, very fast, and, now, very angry divine horse. Great.

Well, Raven thought, Can't be worse than fighting a chimera at the top of the St. Louis arch…"

Willow was shrieking now, completely paralyzed with fear, unable to untangle herself and only a foot or so away from Arions stamping feet, his struggling yanking her closer.

"Hey ugly!" Raven called out, scooping a gold nugget up off the ground and hurling it at Arion, trying to get his attention as she sprinting across the clearing. It was no use, Arion, who was not fighting against several different lassos now, had his sights set on Willow now, who seemed to be completely frozen in terror. Shaking free of a few of his lassos Arion gave a mighty cry and reared his front legs in an attempt to bring them down on the poor shaking girl, who screamed out and covered her head in an attempt to shield herself.

Raven reacted on instinct alone, Sprinting to help the girl and only making it in the nick of time. A second later and Willow would have been a goner. Raven tackled the out of harm's way just as Arions hooves came down on the spot where Willow had just been. Arion gave another angry whiny at having missed his target as another lasso circled itself around his thick neck.

Raven panted for just a moment before scrambling to untangle Willow's legs from the rope. When she was finally free, Raven grabbed her arm.

"Come on," Raven ordered, tugging on the girl's arm, although she still seemed paralyzed with fear, "Up!" Raven said in a firmer voice yanking on her arm.

This time Willow responded, scrambling desperately to her feet as Raven dragged her to the other side of the clearing, right in front her and Jason's tree, Willow stared up at her with wide and terrified-looking eyes, tears rolling down her red and blotchy cheeks.

"You saved my life…" Willow breathed in barely a whisper.

"Eh," Raven shrugged, "That's what a hero does..."

Raven looked up to see Jason shifting in the branches, giving each girl a concern look as he offer the two girls his hand, "Come on, get out of there before he really tramples you!"

"Right, got it..." Raven nodded, giving Willow a boost up, before climbing back up into the tree herself.

As soon as she was settled on a branch between Jason and Willow, Jason grabbed her and pulled her a tight squeeze. Raven.

"Idiot," Jason muttered, "I never thought I'd see you on the same level of stupidity as Octavian... At least you didn't get hit… You are alright, aren't you?"

He pulled back and checked her over to make she she wasn't hurt.

"Yeah…" Raven muttered. If she was being perfectly honest that was part of the reason she had done it. After all that was part of why she was out here at all. For Octavian. Yeah, sure, she hated the guy. He was a self-absorbed pompous jerk, but that self-absorbed pompous jerk had saved her and gotten himself hurt for her. She had absolutely no idea why but he had. She was out here, in part because she wanted to avenge Octavian, in a way. And Willow was out here to help her with that so if anything happened to her Raven couldn't help but feel like that was on her. She just couldn't take it if she had to stand back and watch as another person took a blow from Arion for her. Raven didn't really know if her reasonings made all that much sense, but it felt right and Raven usually just went with whatever felt right, and saving Willow? That had felt right.

So why was there an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach..?

* * *

If Raven gave the Amazons credit for anything, it would be their ability to celebrate a job well done. Despite the little mishap with Willow, Jason's plan had worked like a charm. Arion ran right into his cage Camille had done the honors of slamming the door shut. Arion wouldn't be hurting anyone else for a long long time. At least, not until Hazel, Frank and Percy came along to set him free. But that wouldn't be for awhile. Raven was just happy that it was all over.

The group had piled back into their cars and headed back to the warehouse with a furious Arion in the bed of one of the pick-ups trucks , thrashing and kicking all about. A few of Amazons had volunteered to unload Arion, but everyone else headed to the main part of the warehouse to crack open some champagne and root beer to celebrate. A few of the girls stopped for snacks on the way back to the warehouse and Camille even lighten up enough to play some music over the intercom, all in all it was a sweet little party.

Camille even raised a glass in toast, "To Jason Grace, son of Jupiter, for proving that, every once in awhile, even a man can a have be semi-useful, instead of just a brainless inferior animal like they usually prove to be!"

Jason grinned at Raven, "If I didn't know any better I'd say she likes me."

"Har-Har," Raven rolled her eyes and smirked at him, "Hey is all this music good for the recovering patients? Shouldn't we turn it down so they can rest?"

"They or he?" Jason raised an eyebrow, smirking at her.

"What do you mean?" Raven knit her eyebrows together in confusion.

"You're concerned about Octavian, admit it," Jason teased, grinning widely at her. Raven's cheeks heated up, indignantly.

"Yeah, so what?" Raven huffed, "As much as I hate him, he saved me, he's in a makeshift hospital-cot-thing because of me, he earned my toleration for the time being. So yeah, I'm concerned about him until he's back on his feet. Then I'm going right back to hating his guts."

Raven finished off her statement with a pout, folding her arms across her chest. Jason just sighed and shook her head, which would have confused Raven, but she was quickly distracted from asking when an older girl, Octavian's healer, Hannah, pushed her way through the crowd, stopping in front of them and panting slightly.

"Hannah?" Raven blinked, "What are you doing here? Is something wrong? Is Octavian okay?"

Raven cursed herself for sounding worried and forced herself not to look up, knowing that Jason was definitely smirking at her. She wasn't entirely sure why she even cared but she knew she didn't want anything to happen to the obnoxious brat. She knew it was important. She wondered if it was for the sake of the future. Like, maybe Octavian was needed for more than just plot complications. Maybe they needed him alive? Raven didn't know. All she knew is she didn't want him to die. She didn't want him to suffer. Or maybe she did… She wasn't really sure. Raven wasn't really sure what she wanted from Octavian. For him to leave her alone? To stop being such a manipulative jerk? She didn't really know. Maybe she was starting to think the brat wasn't too bad… Or maybe she was just going crazy.

"No, no," Hannah shook her head, "Octavian's fine. In fact, he's awake he told me to come find you and give you a, um, message as soon as possible."

Raven blinked, "A message? What is it?"

Hannah opened her mouth to speak but closed it again blushing a little, "I'm not sure I should repeat that, Miss Blouse…"

Raven furrowed her brow, "Huh? Oh, come on, it's Octavian I can take whatever he can dish out."

"He said… Um… " Hannah took a deep breath, "Well, he told me to tell you, and these are his words, not mine, but he said I should tell you: I can't believe I made the foolish decision to save your stupid worthless pathetic little life. I'm really not sure why I did something so moronic because clearly the world would be much better off without the idiocy known as Raven Blouse. I mean, you're really that much of an idiot as to have go running off and risking your neck, literally five seconds after I saved it? Which I wouldn't have had to do in the first place if you hadn't been such a reckless imbecile. If I knew you had a death wish I wouldn't have bothered. Seriously, what's wrong with you? Do you not have a freaking brain or does it seriously have that much freakin trouble functioning? How did I get stuck on a Quest with such an irresponsible little brat, I mean, honestly, it's like you're trying to kill me...-"

And the rant basically continued on like that for the next minute or so, Hannah's shy voice repeating Octavian's words in a much less intimidating voice than Raven was sure Octavian would have used.

Raven just stood there and stared, blinking repeatedly at Octavian's stupid, arrogant, pompous, Octavian speech. Jason stood next to her with a blank look, turning his gaze from Raven to Hannah, looking almost exasperated for some reason. Why in hades did Jason look exasperated? It was Raven who should look exasperated! She had risked her life and worked hard to capture Arion to avenge Octavian! How dare he insult her for that!?

"I take back everything nice I ever said or thought about Octavian!" Raven declared, loudly enough to get a few strange looks, "I can't believe I felt guilty over him! I can't believe I was actually grateful to him! I cried over him! You know what? He deserved to get hit by that damn horse, he can get trampled for all I care!"

Raven threw her hands in the air and walked away from the group grumbling profanities under her breath in ancient greek. She needed to vent to Luke or something. Seriously, Octavian could piss Raven off like no one else could. He just had ways of getting under her skin. Ever since he stepped onto the pages of her books, he just rubbed her the wrong way. At least in that universe, she could just throw the book across the room when he got to be too much for her.

Raven wished she could use that tactic in this universe. She would very much enjoy to throw Octavian across the room...

Gods! Why did he even care if she put her life in danger?! It wasn't like he cared anyway. He was probably just worried he'd get in trouble if something happened to her since he stood for her to join the first. Ugh! If he was so worried about that, then he should have just let Jason stand for her instead. It almost made her hope something did happen to her, just so Octavian would get into trouble. Gods, that was an insane thought, but it was only because Octavian drove her insane!

Raven sat down in a secluded corner of the warehouse, and pouted. She realized this was a very ineffective and childish tactic, but hey, she was thirteen… again... so she had the privilege to act like it. So, she was going to sit there and pout for as look as she felt like it, and if Octavian had a problem, he could bite her.

It was about an hour before anyone actually came and found Raven. She imagined after her storming off like that they wanted to give her time to cool off. However it wasn't nearly enough time because when they finally did come and find her, she still wasn't done pouting. Not by a long shot.

"Go away Jason," Raven seethed, "Or better yet go tell Octavian he's a worthless piece of shit who can go screw himself."

"I'll pass on the sentiment…"

Raven jumped in surprise when she realized it wasn't Jason who had come to find her. She spun around, quickly, her black hair whipping around her head as she turned to meet Octavian's gaze.


	37. An Explaination

**Hey guys, I know what your gonna say, This isn't an update, I'm a tease, I'm sorry. But I thought you guys deserved an explanation as to why I've kinda dropped off the face of the earth for the last few months or so.**

**Honestly, the next update is coming, I swear, I have, like, half of it written, I've just literally been so swamped you wouldn't believe. First off, I'm in my junior year of high school, so there's that, but I'm also taking an AP English Literature class, and let me tell you, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Wuthering Hieghts aren't exactly Percy Jackson and Harry Potter. So literally more than half of my time right now is dedicated to just not failing that class.**

**In addition, I got one of the lead roles in my school's drama club performance. Which is great, except I have never been cast in anything before, ever, and now I have 78 lines to memorize by, like, yesterday, so I'm going from 0 to 100 real quick. So basically all of my precious free time is going into that right now.**

**So between writing about metaphors until my fingers hurt, summarizing chapters of the most boring books imaginable, memorizing lines, getting into character, and a shit ton of anxiety, Fanfiction has fallen to the wayside, I'm afraid. But I swear I will get you ur update as soon as things cool down a little, just wanted you guys to get an idea of my fun life so that you could understand why I might not be posting recently.**

**Anywho, I promise I'm not dropping Raven's story, and if I ever do (fat chance) I'll let you guys know, and put this story up for adoption and see to it that someone capable finishes what I started. I won't leave y'all hanging, don't worry. Anyway, I'll see y'all soon, hopefully with an update. In the meantime, I've decided, I should probably be a little less of a tease than usual, so here's a sneak peek at the upcoming chapter for Raven's Story. Enjoy:**

* * *

Jason

Jason groaned internally for the millionth time in the last half an hour. He was going to have to finish this quest alone, wasn't he. Yes, he was most definitely going to have finish it alone because he was, like, 90% sure Raven and Octavian had killed each other. It had been an hour since he'd sent Octavian to go find Raven and apologize and he had not seen or heard from either of them since, which was, you know, probably not a good sign.

About forty minutes after Raven had stormed off to go pout, or whatever Raven did when she was angry, Jason had decided he'd better go see how Octavian was doing. And, ya know, smack him upside the head.

"Seriously!?" Jason chided the older Roman in utter disgust and disappointment, "_that's_ what you can flirting? That was pathetic! I didn't think there was an opposite of flirting, but congratulations! You found it! Holy Roman Empire, no wonder she hates you! You have absolutely no idea how to get a girl. Go. Apologize. Now!"

Octavian had tried to argue but Jason wasn't in the mood to hear it, instead the boy had settled for glaring mercilessly at Jason and stalking off like a kicked puppy.

Now, it being an hour later, Jason was pretty sure he had sent Octavian to his death because Jason was pretty sure that even Octavian and Raven couldn't pull off an hour long screaming match without it devolving into a fist fight. And now that Jason thought about it, since Arion ate Octavian's dagger, the augur was unarmed. Unarmed and recovering. Oh boy. _Raven have mercy on that poor idiotic boy's soul_, Jason thought to himself in a silent prayer.

A little after sending Octavian off to fix the mess he made for himself with Raven, he'd been informed by Camilla that a car was ready and waiting to take the three questors to Florida whenever they were ready to leave. Jason had thanked the Amazon queen and asked her to inform the others if she saw them, before going to load the car and prepare for the rest of their journey. Jason would be lying if he said that he wasn't kind of glad to be leaving the amazon base.

Well, anyway, it had been awhile since Jason had finished loading the car and he was actually starting to get pretty bored waiting his two quest mates to show up but it wasn't like Jason could do much about it. Even if he wanted to continue on without the others, Octavian was the only one in their group that was old enough to drive, not to mention the only one who knew how, so Jason was stuck, staring up at the night sky, right outside the Amazon warehouse's loading dock, the humid night air making him feel sticky.

"Um, excuse me," Jason hadn't even heard anyone walk over but a small voice pulled him out of his thoughts.


	38. Jason 38

**Author's Note: Hello Everyone! I'm back finally! Drama Club is finally over and everything went amazing, so that means I'm back to having plenty of free time on my hands, so here's the new update, finally. Originally this was way longer, but then I got to, like, 32 pages and I still wasn't done with the chapter so I decided that I better split it into two parts, but that also means I've already half written the next chapter after this. So, yeah, that's pretty cool. Anywho, in other news, if you guys haven't noticed, I changed my username on Fanfic from Piper-Audrey Freeman to Maisie Ackerman, and that's because a while ago I got a few comments from people about my pen name and how it didn't really sound like a real name, and I couldn't really disagree so I decided it might be time for a new one and I like the name Maisie a lot more than Piper-Audrey. So, you guys can feel free to continue to call me Pipes or whatever you wanna call me, it doesn't matter to me either way. Anyway, I talk a lot about cars in this chapter, for reasons, (you'll see) so if any of this garbage is wrong, just know I'm a 17 year old girl who doesn't have a driver's license and couldn't give to shits about cars, so I don't really know what I'm talking about. I just asked my brother. Also, you'll notice, we somehow went from 42 to 38 chapters, and thats only because I deleted all of the old authors notes that don't matter anymore.  
**

**Also, Notice: If you guys see any stars (*) in this story, it's because there's a note at the bottom about something Raven says or does that I couldn't really explain in Jason's perspective, and I don't know if I'm gonna be able to go back and explain it by time I get back to Raven's POV so I'm just explaining it now. **

Jason

Jason groaned internally for the millionth time in the last half an hour. He was going to have to finish this quest alone, wasn't he. Yes, he was most definitely going to have finish it alone because he was, like, 90% sure Raven and Octavian had killed each other. It had been an hour since he'd sent Octavian to go find Raven and apologize and he had not seen or heard from either of them since, which was, you know, probably not a good sign.

About forty minutes after Raven had stormed off to go pout, or whatever Raven did when she was angry, Jason had decided he'd better go see how Octavian was doing. And, ya know, smack him upside the head.

"Seriously!?" Jason chided the older Roman in utter disgust and disappointment, "_that's_ what you can flirting? That was pathetic! I didn't think there was an opposite of flirting, but congratulations! You found it! Holy Roman Empire, no wonder she hates you! You have absolutely no idea how to get a girl. Go. Apologize. Now!"

Octavian had tried to argue but Jason wasn't in the mood to hear it, instead the boy had settled for glaring mercilessly at Jason and stalking off like a kicked puppy.

Now, it being an hour later, Jason was pretty sure he had sent Octavian to his death because Jason was pretty sure that even Octavian and Raven couldn't pull off an hour long screaming match without it devolving into a fist fight. And now that Jason thought about it, since Arion ate Octavian's dagger, the augur was unarmed. Unarmed and recovering. Oh boy. _Raven have mercy on that poor idiotic boy's soul_, Jason thought to himself in a silent prayer.

A little after sending Octavian off to fix the mess he made for himself with Raven, he'd been informed by Camilla that a car was ready and waiting to take the three questors to Florida whenever they were ready to leave. Jason had thanked the Amazon queen and asked her to inform the others if she saw them, before going to load the car and prepare for the rest of their journey. Jason would be lying if he said that he wasn't kind of glad to be leaving the amazon base.

Well, anyway, it had been awhile since Jason had finished loading the car and he was actually starting to get pretty bored waiting his two quest mates to show up but it wasn't like Jason could do much about it. Even if he wanted to continue on without the others, Octavian was the only one in their group that was old enough to drive, not to mention the only one who knew how, so Jason was stuck, staring up at the night sky, right outside the Amazon warehouse's loading dock, the humid night air making him feel sticky.

"Um, excuse me," Jason hadn't even heard anyone walk over but a small voice pulled him out of his thoughts. Startled, he sat up, the muggy texan air making his back stick slightly to the hood of the car.

Jason turned his head in the direction of the voice and was surprised to find one of the younger Amazon girls standing in front of him. She had short black hair and dark eyes and didn't look much older than eleven. She stared at Jason with a mixer of nervousness and determination.

"Is Miss Blouse with you?" She asked, shifting her weight from one foot to the other, anxiously.

Jason waited a moment before realizing he actually had to reply to the question and shook his head to clear it, giving the girl a small smile "Um, no, sorry. She's having a, uh, _talk _with our other friend right now. She should be back soon...ish… I hope."

Jason could help but pause. That was the first time Jason had ever referred to Octavian as a friend… and what was even weirder about it was that it didn't really feel wrong, like he thought it should. In fact, it felt almost… _normal_. Jason hadn't really thought of Octavian as his enemy for a while now and he didn't exactly _dislike _the guy, but _friends.._? Jason couldn't help but remember cleaning up the campsite with Raven, and recalled the moment he'd found that small, leather book of prophecies in Octavian's things. The one that now sat in his backpack.

Jason decided that, no, _friend _wasn't the right word for Octavian. Friends trusted each other and Jason didn't trust Octavian in the least. However, a feeling in the pit of Jason's stomach kept nagging at him, quietly asking whether or not Octavian _really _deserved his distrust. The obvious answer should have been yes, but still, he couldn't stop the small twinge of guilt he felt in the back of his mind.

"Oh…" the girl said, frowning dejectedly, effectively snapping Jason out of his own thoughts, "Well, alright then, I guess…" The girl turned to leave, but she looked so disappointed that Jason didn't even have time to stop himself before calling out.

"Wait!" Jason said, although he immediately froze. One did not simply command an Amazon to do anything, not even one as small as this. However, the girl only looked at him expectantly and Jason quickly put on his most charming and helpful smile and continued, "You're the girl Raven saved from Arion, right? Willow, was it? Is there something you needed from Raven? Maybe I can help?"

"No, No," the girl shook her head, making her short black hair bounce. Jason noticed that the girl had changed her outfit from earlier. She looked less formal now. She had on a black and red floral print sundress and carried a floppy black cap in her hands. Even her hair looked a bit more ruffled than before. She had a large, navy blue bag, slung over one shoulder and a silver locket around her neck, although the locket was something Jason had noticed her wearing earlier. "I just-… Well, Raven's story. I wanted to know how it ended before she left…"

"Her story?" Jason lifted an eyebrow, "what story?"

"The one with Percy," Willow said, "The one where they were going to get the lightning bolt from P- I mean, Hades… She told us that she and Percy fell off the St. Louis Arch and then she had to stop. I wanted to know how it ended…"

Ooooh, Jason knew _that _story. Raven had told it to him just the other night. Right before Arion had shown up. They'd stopped though, leaving off just as Raven and her friends had gotten the bolt and escaped the underworld. Just a few hours ago, while waiting for news about Octavian's condition, Jason had attempted to get Raven's mind off things by encouraging her to finish her tale, but the bitter ending had done little to improve her mood. In the end, Raven had realized that Percy was, in fact, falling for her best friend, Annabeth, and had gotten mad at her. In the end, Raven had been left the group, feeling as though she'd never be able to compare to Annabeth and ran away, after which she ended up at Camp Jupiter.

Jason knew it was a complete downer, but, this girl… Willow would only be disappointed when she realized the story had a sad ending and, honestly, how would she even know the difference anyway? It didn't matter if their journey ended with Raven feeling heartbroken, Willow was a little girl, she wanted to hear that the story had a happy ending.

"I know that story," Jason said, without giving it a second thought. He had nothing to do while he was sitting there anyway, "Raven's told me it before. I could tell you how it ends if you like."

Willow looked surprised and then grinned excitedly and nodded, "Please!"

Jason grinned and scooted over on the hood of the car so that Willow had room to sit. She hopped up and once she was settled Jason asked, "So where did you leave off?"

"Percy and Raven both fell off the St. Louis Arch together and Raven said she felt something, but she never said what..." Willow frowned.

Jason nodded, "So Raven and Percy were falling off the arch… Okay…" Jason slowly and carefully continued the story, constructing it as to not disappoint the young Amazon warrior. He felt like a mother telling their child a bedtime story. Jason couldn't help but wonder if his mom ever did this for him. Then he remembered the day she left him at the wolf house and decided the answer was probably no… Maybe Thalia had, Jason thought. He couldn't remember much but from what he did remember Thalia seemed like that kind of big sister... "So Raven and Percy went back to their friends with the good news, and they continued on their journey, although something had changed."

"What changed?" Willow asked, eyes wide in anticipation.

Jason grinned, "Raven fell in love," he teased. Gods, Raven would smacked him so hard if she ever found out about this. He snickered to himself and continued the story. A couple times he'd forgotten what happened next in the story but he simply filled in the blanks with whatever he thought sounded best. By the time he was finishing up, Willow was hanging on Jason's every word as if they were gospel.

When he got to the part of the story where Raven and her friends left Hades and Percy got mad at her, Jason paused. He didn't want to tell her the miserable version of the story's ending, so what was he supposed to tell her instead? Jason thought for a moment before remembering a book his friend, Gwen, had given him last summer. It was a bad romance novel she'd written herself. Gwen was one of the few kids at camp who didn't have dyslexia so it had been written in English, meaning it had been a pain to read, but Jason had powered through it. He still remembered the plot vaguely. It was about demigods and their adventures, but it was mainly a romance between the two main characters, who had these ridiculously stupid names, like Antonio Smoke and Scarlett Stonewater, or something like that. It wasn't exactly something Jason had enjoyed personally but he remembered that the ending had been pretty romantic.

"So, they enter Pluto's chambers," Jason said slowly, "And Pluto, having watched them on their quest, congratulated them on their bravery..."

"Really?" Willow interrupted, looking at him with knit eyebrows, almost unbelieving.

"Uh," Jason said nervously. "Of course. Why would I lie to you? Pluto congratulated them on their success on their quest and decided to enlisted their help. Hades would return Percy's mother and they would find something of his which was also stolen by the same person who stole Jupiter's lightning bolt..."

Willow nodded slowly, seeming to believe him and went back to listening intently.

"So they continued on their quest," Jason continued, "And they went on to find out that Mars had been tricked into taking both Jupiter and Pluto's property, and Percy was challenged to fight him." Now Jason thought to barrow a scene from Gwen's book, making his voice dramatic, "Percy turned to face his enemy, a battle which he would surely lose, but Raven stopped him, begging him not to go, unable to bare the idea of losing her friend and the guy she loved."

Willow breathed out a soft 'Aw' under her breath.

Jason grinned, "Deep down, however, Raven knew this was an enemy Percy had to face, and so she kissed him for good luck and let him go, making him promise to be safe. Percy kissed her back and promised before rushing off to face Mars."

"Yes..!" Willow said, under her breath, "I knew it!"

Jason couldn't help but chuckle, "Yes, so, Percy faced Mars in a long and tough battle. They all thought they would lose and that this would be the end of their quests, but thanks to Percy's power as the son o Neptune and with the help of his friends, they defeated the war god and returned Pluto's things, rescuing Percy's mother!" Jason spread his arms a bit in a dramatic flourish. He was starting to really get into this whole story-telling business.

"And the bolt!?" Willow asked, hurriedly, getting excited as well.

"Well, Pluto was so grateful to Raven and her friends for helping him that, not only did he return Percy's mother, but he took them all to Jupiter himself, right to the grand palace of the gods! They told Jupiter their story and returned his bolt, and were welcomed by the king of the gods with honor." Jason knew he was just kinda making things up at this point because that sounded nothing like his dad, but Jason was starting to enjoy telling his own tale, "Jupiter thanked them for their help and honored them as heroes. He was a gracious and honorable god and recognized the heroes for their bravery. As they left the god's presence, they knew their adventure was complete. They had saved the gods from war and all was well. They all lived happily ever after."

Jason grinned to himself, feeling accomplished. He liked his version of the tale. He knew it wasn't real, but part of him wished it was. The gods ungrateful dismissal of the demigods' bravery and his own father's uncaring nature bothered Jason. In his version, the gods actually cared about the demigods and thanked them for risking their lives. They didn't just ignore them. The questors were satisfied and everyone got a happy ending. It felt right.

"Then what?" Willow asked.

Jason frowned, "What do you mean, then what?"

"If Raven and Percy lived happily ever after, then why is she here? Where's Percy? Why's she with you?" Willow pressed for answer.

"Oh, uh, well after Raven and Percy admitted their feelings for one another and started dating, Percy had to… see to his mother!" Jason improvised, "Since she'd only just returned from the underworld, he couldn't leave her, but Raven had to go because she was following the will of the gods, who lead her to Camp Jupiter because she was destined to help my friend and I on this very important quest we're on. Now, we're rushing to finish this quest quickly so that Raven can return to Percy and continue living happily ever after."

"Wow..." Willow breathed, amazed. She smiled, giggling to herself and sighed happily, laying back on the hood of the car, looking up at the night sky. "She's amazing, isn't she? She's just a normal girl, but she's so powerful! I mean, she's actually independent! She doesn't need anyone to protect her. A monster comes around and she just conquers it!"

Jason remembered Raven's confidence in the face of an angry Nemesis, and how she laughed in the face of those monsters on the train and her reckless bravery when Arion was attacking the warehouse, "Yeah, she's pretty fearless… If nothing else, Raven sure can hold her own in a fight..."

"Do you think..." Willow trailed off.

"What?" Jason asked looking back at the girl.

"Nothing," Willow shook her head dismissively and looked back up at the stars, falling silent once more. There was a long stretch of silence before the Amazon spoke up once more, "Do you think someone like me could be as fearless as her? Do you think I'll ever be powerful enough to hold my own?"

Jason thought about that for a moment and shrugged. He couldn't help but smile up at the night sky and feel optimistic,"I don't think anyone can do Raven quite like Raven, but I do I think that anyone can be a hero as long as they believe in themselves." he said.

Jason gave Willow a smile, which she returned contentedly.

"Grace!" Camilla's voice echoed through the silent night air, disturbing the peace. Jason's head swiftly turned to the side, spotting the Amazon queen approaching. Trailing behind her, Jason was relieved to see Raven and Octavian jogging towards the car, both very much alive and unharmed, much to Jason's surprise. Not that he actually thought they'd kill each other, but his prediction of a fist fight had been a real concern. However, it seemed that both of his quest mates were fine, if not a little red in the face.

"Oh, hey Camilla," Jason said, looking between the three of them, "Raven… Octavian… Did you two talk..? How'd everything go..?"

Jason raised an eyebrow at his two quest mates who only narrowed their eyes and glared at him in return. Jason held up his hands in mock surrender as Octavian made an annoyed noise under his breath and rolled his eyes, "I'm going to load up your car."

For a second, Octavian and Raven just looked at each other with wide eyes, slightly red faces, and their mouths each drawn into a thin line, in what seemed to be the most awkward exchange Jason had ever had the displeasure of witnessing. After what Jason could only assume was a silent argument, Raven shoved her backpack at the older demigod as Octavian grabbed his own stuff and busied himself loading the trunk of the car.

Camilla gave a low whistle, clearly acknowledging the awkwardness just as Jason had, before clearing her throat and looking at Jason, "I thought I'd show them the way and see you three off," She said, pausing only a moment as her eyes landed on Willow, "Miss Blaine, You have a job to be doing right now. Shouldn't you be helping out your friends at this time?"

Willow glowered as she reluctantly sat up, mumbling something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like, 'they aren't my friends...' to Jason. However Willow didn't argue as she turned, giving Jason a grateful smile before heading back to the warehouse, twisting her black knit cap tightly in her hands.

Jason watched her go and couldn't help but wonder if he'd ever cross paths with that girl again. The chances were probably not, but Jason liked to think he would. He liked that girl… She was cool.

Jason returned his attention to his group just as Camilla pressed a roll of parchment into Raven's hand and smiled, a soft and gentle smile Jason hadn't seen on the Amazon queen before.

"You will always find friends amongst us Amazons Miss Blouse. We're-... _I'm_ in your debt. It's been an honor to be able to call you an ally and a sister in arms." Camilla smiled again, looking back in the direction Willow had just left in, "You know, without your help, we surely would have lost our young Miss Blaine. It's a service I can never repay. Now, I suppose this is goodbye, so, I wish you luck on your quest and if you are ever in need of assistance do not hesitate to ask."

She patted the roll of paper in Raven's hand and, much to Raven's surprise, gave her a quick kiss on the cheek which caused the younger girl's cheeks to flush deeply. Camilla grinned slyly at her and chuckled before turning and walking away. Jason watched as she approached the building, her shocking red hair being the last thing Jason saw before she disappeared altogether, back into the building.

Jason turned to his teammates with the intent to ask them more about their hour long conversation, but stopped as he caught sight of Raven, staring down at the parchment Camilla had given to her with knit eyebrows, lost in thought.

Raven's eyes widened slightly a moment later, as if something important had just occurred to her. Her eyes shot up to the place where the Amazon queen had just been standing before she disappeared into the dark building. Her eyes seemed to swim with grief and sorrow. Before Jason could say anything, tears were falling down her cheek in rapid flow.

"Raven?" Jason asked, startled, as he placed a hand on her shoulder in confusion and worry, "Raven what's wrong? why are you crying?"

Raven looked back at Jason, her eyebrows drawn together as if she didn't understand the question. Suddenly she looked around, as if she'd forgotten where she was. She quickly lifted her sleeves to her eyes as she wipe away the tears that were now flowing down her cheeks in steady streams. She scrubbed at her cheeks furiously and shook her head.

"Nothing," she said, though her voice sounded as if her throat were closing up, "I'm sorry, it's nothing, I swear, I just remembered something I read. It was sad, I'm sorry. I'm fine."

Jason continued to stare at her, confused and concerned for a moment before Raven let out a quiet sob and blurted out, "I'm sorry, that was a lie. It's just I remembered that something bad is going to happen here and I just- I can't tell you, and- And it's just not fair, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..." ***(1)**

Jason wasn't quite sure he understood but he didn't ask, instead he hesitantly pulled Raven against his chest and hugged her as she sobbed quietly. He could hear her muttering apologies under her breath, though they were muffled by the fabric of his purple, Camp Jupiter t-shirt.

Jason looked over his shoulder at Octavian who was watching them with a surprised look on his face. His eyes drifted between Jason and Raven with growing concerned as his eyes locked on Raven's shaking shoulders. Jason patted Raven's hair softly.

It took a few minutes for Raven to calm down but when she finally stopped sobbing, Jason gently pulled back and smiled at her softly. Her eyes were red-rimmed and puffy but she wiped off her cheeks and forced a small, watery smile in return.

"You okay?" Jason asked after a beat. Raven took a deep breath and nodded slowly. Jason nodded in return and swallowed thickly, "You wanna talk about it..?" He asked slowly.

"Jason," Raven sniffed, "Please… Just, don't- Don't ask. I can't tell you… I'm sorry."

Jason frowned at that, but decided not to push. He wanted to tell her it was okay, but the words caught in his throat. The truth was he wasn't really okay with it. He wasn't about to force her to tell him anything, but he didn't like that his quest mate, his friend, was keeping secrets from him. But yet again, there was a lot of things Raven hadn't told him about herself. There were a lot of things he didn't know about her…

Luckily, Jason was spared from having to reply when Octavian spoke up, approaching around the front of the car, after having packed the last of their things, "Hey, we should get going soon. We can stop somewhere to sleep in a while but I think we should at least get in a couple of hours of driving if we want to make it to Miami beach in three days..."

Raven moved away from Jason and nodded silently.

Jason gave Octavian a look before flicking his eyes over to Raven briefly and giving a small nod to the passenger's seat. With that, Jason hopped in the backseat before anyone else had the chance to move. Octavian shot him a look, although Jason wasn't sure if it was supposed to be one of anger or thanks. Jason merely grinned in return as Raven took another deep breath to calm herself and climbed into the passenger seat and Octavian took his place at the wheel. As he settled into the driver's seat, Octavian gave a low whistle, running his hands over the steering wheel.

"This is a nice car," Octavian said, "2005 Mustang Convertible. Unused... Man, if I owned one of these..." he gave a low laugh.

Jason raised an eyebrow. He hadn't payed much attention to the car until Octavian had said something, but now that he thought about it, it was a pretty nice car. It was a dark gray car with two doors and black leather seats. It didn't have a top, which Jason was thankful for due to the hot night air of Texas, but he didn't think he'd be too happy about it back in San Francisco, where it seemed to be perpetually cool, even in the summers. Octavian was right about it being unused too, since it seemed new, although Jason wasn't sure how he knew the year.

Octavian started the car and turned around in his seat slightly as he put the car in reverse and Jason could see the small smile on his lips as he continued, "Course I've always wanted a 1995 Chevrolet Corvette zr1. It looks so sweet. Course, my dad already gave me his old car, but it's some kind of SUV, that hasn't run right in years… I wanna fix it up and sell it so I can get something better but I don't know anything about mechanics..."

Jason wasn't exactly sure what to say to that but he wasn't sure it mattered since he thought Octavian was mostly just talking to himself but then Raven piped up from the passenger seat, her voice still a bit hoarse.

"I want a Chevy Impala myself," she said, quietly, smiling to herself, as sharing some kind of inside joke, "A 1967 Chevy Impala." ***(2)**

"Huh," Octavian said, "Know much about cars?"

Raven laughed -actually _laughed- _at Octavian's words, "No, no, I tried mechanics once, it did _not _go well. I'm still not allowed back in the place… I have a friend who's obsessed with his car though. It's a, um, a…-" She snapped her fingers lightly, trying to remember the name, "-An Eclipse, or something like that." ***(3)**

"A Mitsubishi Eclipse?" Octavian asked, starting down the main road.

Raven nodded, waving her hand slightly in recollection, "Yes! That. A Mitsubishi Eclipse. He's obsessed with it. Doesn't take it out much, though. I think he's afraid if he takes it out some kind of monster will destroy it or something..."

"I would be too," Octavian smiled, "It's a good car..."

Jason leaned back in his seat in complete and utter amazement. Whatever happened in that hour Octavian and Raven had been talking must have really been something because Raven and Octavian were actually sitting there, right in front of him, having a _civil conversation_. Granted it was tentative and they were obviously making an effort to keep to neutral subjects, but if Jason hadn't known any better, he would have thought they were friends...

Jason leaned back in his seat, the wind feeling like fingers running through his hair. He could still hear Raven and Octavian's conversation continuing in the background, though it was mostly drowned out by the sound of the wind in his ears. Jason closed his eyes and let his head fall back against the headrest, a small smile playing on his lips.

* * *

It was about fourteen hours from Houston to Tampa, Florida and Octavian had driven for about five before they stopped to go to make camp for the night at around 2:00 AM. They'd gotten up at 7:00 that morning and started driving, stopping here and there for bathroom breaks and such, so they pulled into Tampa at around 6:00 PM the next day.

The reason they'd stopped in Tampa? Car trouble.

They had just been making their way into Tampa for a food-and-bathroom-break when their Mustang Convertible started making this _thump!thump!thump!thump!thump! _Noise. Octavian gave a loud groan "Sounds like a flat," he muttered in annoyance as he carefully pulled over and switched on the hazards.

"Do we have a spare?" Raven asked as Octavian opened his door.

Octavian ruffled his pale blonde hair as he shut the driver's side door and groaned, stretching his muscles for the first time in nearly two hours, "Yeah, there's one in the trunk, I saw it when I was packing the car..."

"And you're sure you're capable of changing a tire?" Raven raised an eyebrow and Jason was still in awe to find that the comment wasn't scathing, but playfully teasing instead.

"What? You gonna come out here and show me how it's done, Miss Expert Mechanic?" Octavian raised an eyebrow, leaning his elbows against the car door.

"Oh, hush. Go fix your car, would ya," Raven rolled her eyes and shook her head at him, a smirk on her lips as she flipped the sunglasses resting on her forehead over her eyes. Octavian gave a huffed laugh as he turned to assess the car.

Jason simply couldn't get over it, seeing those two together. It was still a hesitant friendship, but it was surprising to see the two of them joking together like they weren't just trying to rip each other's throats out a day ago, but Jason was glad they were working together at least. Jason had been willing to work with Octavian ever since he found out about his crush on Raven a few days ago and saw his more… _sensitive _side, but Jason didn't think there was _any _way to get Raven to tolerate the Roman augur, until now. As it turns out, all they really needed was an hour long talk in an Amazon base and a thousand miles of small talk for them to get this far.

Jason would kill to know what those two had said to each other back at the Amazon base...

However, despite the teasing, it was still hard to tell how far Raven and Octavian had actually gotten. Like Jason had said, it was a _hesitant _friendship. When they first started their road trip they had a few slip ups here and there, snapping at one another every once in awhile but somewhere along the line they'd settled into this comfortable pattern they had going for them. Ever since their little ceasefire, Octavian had been being careful not to say anything that might upset Raven's temper, and Raven had been keeping her distance, clearly wary of getting too close to Octavian.

Still, it seemed the two had recently upgraded to light teasing, so Jason could only assumed that was a good sign.

"That's weird," Octavian muttered as he opened the car door and settled back into the driver's seat, "No flat… Everything looks normal."

Raven shrugged slightly, "Keep going then?"

"I guess..." Octavian said, though he sounded reluctant.

"Just for a while," Jason compromised, "and if it keeps making that noise we can take it to a mechanic, okay? How much money do we still have from camp?"

Octavian reached into his back pocket and pulled open his wallet. He frowned, "I don't know if we have enough for a mechanic right now if we still want money for food and gas later. Plus we have to think about the drive back..."

"Hold on," Raven cut him off, "Jason toss me my bag, it should be by your feet."

"It's not there..." Jason muttered after reaching down by his feet.

"Other side, then?"

Jason sighed, unclicking his seat belt to lean over to the other side of the car in search of Raven's bag. He leaned over, his hand reaching out to dig around in the pile of trash the group had created on the floor of the car, but before he even touched the first piece of trash, his hand brushed against something soft and smooth, and _warm. _

Jason withdrew his hand in less than a second and yelped. However the sound that caught his teammate's attention, as well as his own, was the small gasp that sounded from the seat next to Jason. The whole group sat their silently, breaths held, for a long moment, not daring to move.

It was Raven who regained herself first. She pushed her sunglasses back onto her forehead and turned around to face the empty seat next to Jason with a determined look on her face. She reached out a hand and moved it up and down slightly, as if aiming it. Then, after a moment she reached forward, slowly, before jumping slightly and gasping, her hand stilling in the air as if she'd touched something invisible. But that was impossible, right? Carefully, Raven drifted her hand upwards, feeling around with a hard look on her face until she seemed to feel what she was looking for. Quickly, she formed a tight fist with her hand and yanked her hand away.

It happened in less than a second. One moment, the spot next to Jason was empty, but as soon as Raven pulled her hand back, a figure materialized, causing all three demigods to jump in surprise. Jason's eyes were wide as he stared at the figure in front of him, taking in the short dark curls and pale ivory skin of the girl in the car next to him, dressed in a black and red sundress. In Raven's hand, Jason could see her clutching a black knit cap in her fist.

"Willow..?" Jason was the first to speak, his voice creaking in surprise, which would have usually embarrass him, but at the moment everyone was way too surprised to comment. The younger Amazon girl looked between the three older demigods with wide, fearful eyes, unable to find the words to speak.

Raven looked annoyed as she examined the cap, "Invisibility cap..." she muttered, "You snuck into the car while Camilla was talking to us, you little stowaway!"

Willow quickly found her voice again, "I did not! I snuck into the car while you were crying on Jason!"

Raven's face flared red, "What does that matter!? Ugh, now we have to call Camilla and wait for her to come get you! We don't have time for this, especially not if we need a mechanic! We have to be in Miami day after tomorrow!"

"What!? No! You can't call Camilla!" Willow suddenly yelped, bolting up in her seat, "I came to help on your quest."

"Yeah right, how's a -what, ten year old?- going to help us on our quest?" Octavian scoffed, glaring at Willow from the driver's seat.

"Eleven!" Willow pouted.

"Fine, how's an _eleven _year old going to help us on our quest?" Octavian rolled his eyes.

"Okay, I'd like to point out I'm only a year older," Jason said quietly.

"Who cares!?" Octavian threw up his hands, "I'm not going to have some little pipsqueak tagging along on my quest!"

"_Our_ quest," Raven snapped at him, warning.

"Ugh! Whatever, can someone just call the Amazons already so we can go already!?" Octavian said in frustration. Raven folded her arms in annoyance and glared at him.

"No! You can't call Camilla!" Willow interrupted, sounding near desperate now, "I'm not going back to them! You can't make me! I-I'll leave!" She stuttered out, "I'll be gone before they get here if you call them. Please, I can help. I can be a hero, too, just like you guys."

"'You can be a hero?' Oh please," Octavian rolled his eyes, "Who's been feeding you that kind of bullshit? Honestly..."

Jason felt his heart sink and his face flush as he realized the answer to that question. Apparently Willow realized it too because her hand immediately shot up, a finger pointing accusingly at Jason. Jason gave each of his quest mates a slightly guilty look as the silence stretched between them.

After a moment, Octavian groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose, "Of course." He muttered.

"Listen, Willow," Raven said, shooting Jason a disapproving look, "I don't know what Jason's been telling you exactly, but this quest is way too dangerous for you. If there's a fight, the three of us are going to have enough trouble protecting ourselves without having to worry about protecting you, too. I'm sorry, you're just too inexperienced..."

"No!" Willow argued, "I-I can hold my own in a fight! I'm an _Amazon_. I have training!"

"Yeah," Octavian scoffed, "More like an Amazon _in _training."

"Please!" Willow begged, "I wanna be an independent demigod, like you, Raven! I can hold my own in a fight, I promise. I'm going to prove myself to the gods! They'll honor me like a hero! Then I'll fall in love and live happily ever after, just like you did on your first quest!"

_Oh Jupiter help me… _Jason swallowed thickly as he locked eyes with Raven. With a shiver, he watched as she narrowed her eyes dangerously at him. He could swear he saw one of her eyes twitch with anger.

"Willow," Raven said, forcing her voice to be calm as she spoke through clenched teeth. "Did Jason happen to tell you the end of my story while you were talking?"

"Yeah," Willow nodded enthusiastically, staring up at Raven in awe, "It was amazing! I knew you and Percy fell in love, I just knew it! It was so romantic..."

"Yeah, yeah, _very,_" Raven grit out, "Jason may I talk to you for a moment, in _private_."

"I'd rather not," Jason near squeaked, his voice cracking again (stupid puberty...)

"Sucks that you don't have a choice then," Raven hissed, "Out of the car, _now_."

Jason and Raven had only just ducked behind a clump of dead-looking foliage when Raven's open palm made contact with the back on Jason's skull. Jason grabbed the back of his head and yelped in pain. For such a small girl, Raven sure packed a punch. His head was throbbing.

"What exactly made you decide to finish _my _story?" Raven hissed angry, "Or, better yet, what exactly possessed you to _change _it? I told you the ending to that story, what exactly made you think it was a good idea to try and rewrite it?"

"I-I don't know," Jason stuttered, his stomach knotting uncomfortably. He hadn't meant for Raven to get mad at him… He hadn't exactly meant for her to find out either… "I-I just wanted to give it a happier ending, ya know..?"

Raven pressed her lips into a thin line for a long while at that, "Okay… Maybe I _do _get that… But still! ***(4)** This girl now needs a heavy duty reality check because of you! No one's going to honor her like a hero! I stopped the gods from starting an all out civil war and they didn't give two shits about me!"

"Well, yeah, but, I just..." Jason trailed off. _wanted to pretend for a little while…_ his brain helpfully supplied, _didn't want to admit the truth to myself... _

"And honestly!" Raven continued, her face completely red now, "How dare you, I mean, how _dare _you tell her that Percy and I fell in love! Even if it was true, that is none of her business and it most definitely is _not _your place to go around saying telling people that."

"It was only a joke..." Jason tried to protest, "you never minded before..."

Raven growled in frustration, "Yes, Jason, I never got upset about it before because I try really hard not to let it get to me! If I got upset every time I remembered that Percy doesn't love me, I'd be completely useless because I think about him _constantly _and you don't help! Gods, I get that, to you, it's this cute little joke but, to me, it's just another stupid reminder of what I can never have!"

Jason couldn't help the feeling of guilt that flooded his chest at those words. He hadn't meant to upset Raven like this… He had only been teasing. Was getting your heartbroken really that bad? Jason had never been in love before… He'd never even _liked _anyone, let alone _loved_, so he couldn't imagine what Raven was going through. He hadn't realized how hurt she'd been by this Percy guy. Cautiously he trying to comfort her, stammering out, "You don't know that it's _never _going-"

"That it's never going to happen!?" Raven cut him off. "Actually, Jason, yes I do! I know for a _fact _that Percy will never love me the way I love him. It's never going to happen, Jason, _ever_. It's never _going _to happen, It never _should _happen, and it may hurt like hell, but in order to protect the fate of everyone I love, it _can't _happen. Percy _has _to fall in love with Annabeth, do you understand? So stop with all the boyfriend jokes because they aren't freakin' funny anymore!"

Raven shoved Jason out of her way and stormed off, making her way back over to the car.

Jason continued to stand there, stunned into silence. He was… a complete and total idiot… He should have thought about it earlier. Of course Raven didn't find it funny when he teased her for liking Percy. He should have known it bothered her. Ugh, he hadn't even gotten a chance to apologize before she walked off… He-… He had to make it up to her somehow… He had no idea how, but he had to. He'd been a complete moron and caused this whole mess with Willow and now he needed to fix it.

Jason took a deep breath, pinching the bridge of his nose lightly, before straightening himself and making his way back to the car, rubbing the back of his head where Raven had hit him. It still hurt…

As he approached the car, Jason could hear Raven and Willow arguing.

"Ugh, Willow, you can't come with us," Jason heard Raven saying, "I know what Jason said, but the truth is life as a demigod is not a fairytale. Especially not for an independent demigod. A quest won't solve all your problems. You'll be safe with the Amazons."

"I know that!" Willow argued, raising her voice. Her dark eyes flickered dangerously with passion as she locked eyes with Raven and spoke with conviction, "I know it's not a fairytale! I was an independent before I was an Amazon! I never even wanted to join them in the first place! I only did it because they said they could protect me but it's like walking a stupid tightrope! If you slip up, even a little, suddenly you're not good enough for them anymore! They want you to be perfect and I'm just so done with it all! I don't wanna be protected anymore! I want a new life, where I can be my own hero! I'm done with being afraid, I wanna fight!"

Silence hung heavy in the air as the other three demigods absorbed that. No of them had expected anything quite that passionate to come from such a small girl, but it felt as though Willow had poured all her frustrations into every word. It even shocked Raven into silence, although she regained herself shortly after.

"Octavian, start the car, we have ourselves a fourth teammate now I guess," Raven said suddenly, turning away from Willow and climbing into the passenger's seat. ***(5)**

"Come on! You can't be serious!?" Octavian cried, staring at her in shock. Raven turned to him sharply with an ice-cold glare that shut him up immediately, "Annnd, You're serious..."

Willow was staring at the back of Raven's head in shock, looking as though she might just burst out into tears, "Thank you..." she whispered, just loud enough to be heard, "Thank you so much… Thank you..."

Octavian grumbled unhappily under his breath, looking even more pissed off than usual but started the car anyway, "Get in, Grace," He snapped, "Cameron will be pissed if she finds out that I left the son of Jupiter all the way back in Florida for being slow as shit."

Jason got in the car.

* * *

**1.) If you remember, in Chapter 28, Raven says "It really made Raven wonder what made [Camilla] step down so Hylla could take over. She remembered reading something about that in the books but she couldn't remember..." Raven starts crying in this chapter because she just remembered what she read in the books about how the new queen of the Amazons is decided. A literal fight to the death. Raven just realized that that if Hylla is Queen of the Amazons by the Son of Neptune, that means at some point she challenged Camilla to a fight to the death and killed her. Raven is devastated by this, not only because she's grown attached to Camilla but because this is the first time she's actually had to stand by and let someone die so that the fate of the books aren't compromised and she feels incredible guilty because of it. **

**2.) She's making a stupid Supernatural reference because she's trash. **

**3.) Raven's talking about Luke, who owns his own car but insists on driving the Camp Half-Blood van everywhere because he doesn't want it to get totaled. Both Octavian and Luke are nerds about cars. **

**4.) Raven's finding it hard to get mad at Jason for wanting to change a sad story to make it happier because that's literally what she's been doing, magically, for the past year. Irony. **

**5.) Raven suddenly decides to let Willow come along because she understands what Willow's going through and that this is something Willow has to do. Raven knows what it's like to live in a place where your expected to be perfect and your looked down upon for messing up just a little because that's what how her family and school was towards her, especially since she wasn't all that smart and was failing most of her classes due to her lack of an attention span. Raven knows what it's like to feel like you're always relaying on others to protect you because she always relayed on Kelly to support her and knows how useless that can make you feel. Raven knows she wouldn't have the friends and life she does now, which (for the most part) is everything she's ever wanted, if she hadn't taken a chance and made her wish for a new life where she could be a hero, so she isn't about to deny Willow that same chance to get everything she's ever wanted.**


End file.
